On the final day of the summer transfer window, Manchester United saw two high-stakes, last-minute attempts to strengthen their squad collapse, leaving the Premier League side empty-handed in their late push to address defensive and midfield depth gaps.
For weeks leading up to the deadline, United’s coaching staff under manager Michael Carrick had prioritized shoring up the left-back position, an area identified as a key squad weakness. After ruling out moves for Barcelona’s Alejandro Balde and Racing Santander’s Jorge Salinas, with less than 12 hours remaining before the window closed, United pivoted to a surprise target: Algerian full-back Rayan Ait-Nouri from cross-city rivals Manchester City.
United exclusively explored a loan arrangement for the 25-year-old, ruling out any permanent purchase up front. However, Manchester City’s only acceptable terms for a temporary exit included a mandatory obligation to buy Ait-Nouri at the end of the loan spell — a condition United rejected outright. City later confirmed that Ait-Nouri would remain at the Etihad Stadium for the current season.
Ait-Nouri joined City from Wolverhampton Wanderers for a £31m transfer fee in June 2025, but his debut campaign at the club fell short of expectations. He made just 12 starts in Premier League play and 31 total appearances across all competitions, and currently sits third in Enzo Maresca’s left-back depth chart, behind starter Josko Gvardiol and young prospect Nico O’Reilly. He has been named to the matchday squad for all three of City’s opening 2026/27 fixtures but has yet to take the pitch this season.
Notably, a completed transfer for Ait-Nouri would have made him the first player to move directly between the two Manchester rivals for an agreed transfer fee in more than 27 years. The last such direct transfer saw Terry Cooke leave United for City for a £1m fee in January 1999. In recent decades, only Owen Hargreaves and Carlos Tevez have made the cross-city switch, both joining City after their United contracts expired — Tevez’s arrival famously included City’s provocative “Welcome to Manchester” publicity campaign that stoked the already fierce rivalry between the clubs.
United’s failure to land an experienced new left-back has forced a last-minute change of plans for the club’s own young prospect, 19-year-old Harry Amass. Amass served as backup to first-choice left-back Luke Shaw through most of pre-season, but has not been named to Carrick’s matchday squad for either of United’s opening two Premier League games. He had been widely expected to leave on a loan deal to gain first-team minutes, but will now remain at Old Trafford to provide defensive cover. He is still expected to be third in the depth chart, however, after Noussair Mazraoui filled in for the injured Shaw during United’s 5-2 opening weekend win over Ipswich Town.
Alongside the collapsed Ait-Nouri deal, United also saw their pursuit of highly-rated 18-year-old Leicester City midfielder Louis Page fall through. United’s interest in Page, who plays in England’s League One with the Foxes, was first revealed by BBC Sport back in August, but the writing was on the wall for the deal when Leicester named Page in their starting line-up for a league fixture against Plymouth Argyle on transfer deadline day itself. Multiple sources later confirmed the transfer would not be completed, and Page will remain at Leicester for the coming season.
Leicester held firm on their valuation of the teenage prospect, demanding more than £10m to sanction the sale. Page only made his senior first-team debut in August 2025, but has already earned a strong reputation after 25 first-team appearances for the club. It was widely understood that United had planned to loan Page straight back to Leicester for the remainder of the season to continue his development, as the Red Devils have already spent more than £150m on senior international midfield reinforcements this summer.
United’s new midfield signings Youri Tielemans and Andrey Santos have already made their debuts for the club, while £70m summer addition Carlos Baleba, signed from Brighton & Hove Albion, will miss the next two weeks of action with a minor ankle injury.