Manchester United defensive midfielder Manuel Ugarte joined the club with a ton of fanfare ahead of the 2024/25 season after being a star for Sporting CP and even PSG, but he has been so far beneath his 50 million euro price tag that if even Ruben Amorim can't save him, there may be no point in even trying to get anything out of him.

While Liverpool attacking midfielder Florian Wirtz clearly has not lived up to his 100 million pound price tag to this early point in the 2025/26 Premier League season, he's been far from the worst new transfer in the English top flight. To that end, here are five transfers from the summer 2025 window who have been significantly worse than Wirtz has to this point.

Manchester United completely changed their attack this past summer transfer window by spending big on Benjamin Sesko, Matheus Cunha, and the best of them all, Bryan Mbeumo. But who else could Manchester United try to bring in to get back to their status more than a decade ago of being a bona fide Premier League title contender? Here are five dream options, with no regard to cost or likelihood of transfer, who could help transform the Man United squad and push them back up to the elite of the Premier League.

Manchester United want to sign a top midfielder in the winter or summer transfer windows next year, and if it were up to most Man United supporters, they'd sign two of them. As the 2025/26 Premier League season has gone on, Nottingham Forest breakout star midfielder Elliot Anderson has become an increasingly attractive option for Manchester United in the middle of the park.

Chelsea are always one of the most active teams in the transfer window, and while their main focus last summer was bolstering their attack, they did land a couple of new faces in the midfield. But Dario Essugo, the main new addition, hasn't been able to play much for the team due to injury, though young superstar Andrey Santos has been amazing in his return from Strasbourg as the third midfielder behind…

Arsenal vastly upgraded their team and look so much stronger tactically with the addition of Swedish striker Viktor Gyokeres this past summer transfer window, and while they have Gabriel Jesus and Kai Havertz behind him, it looks like they want more of a scoring striker with future upside as the No. 2 option - plus Jesus's days in North London are likely numbered anyway.

Arsenal already have one of the best midfields in world football, as the additions of backup playmaker Eberechi Eze and elite anchor Martin Zubimendi have taken the Gunners to another level. It's a big reason why Arsenal are first in the Premier League right now and clear title favorites. Zubimendi and Declan Rice are forming a midfield partnership for the ages at the base, and whenever captain Martin Odegaard is out, Eze is a legitimate top-class option to step in.

Liverpool are interested in adding more quality to their back line in the summer 2026 transfer window, and that's especially because starter Ibrahima Konate is fully expected to leave as a free agent with Real Madrid and other top clubs circling around the Frenchman. Given Konate hasn't been particularly impressive of late, Liverpool don't seem to be too upset at the prospect of losing him, and they already came very close to signing Marc Guehi on transfer deadline day in summer 2025 with the expectation that the England international will join them for free in 2026 anyway.

Young Arsenal left back Myles Lewis-Skelly has been one of the team's academy success stories over the past couple of seasons, though there have been many such success stories, given how great the Gunners are at finding and giving opportunities to young players. Lewis-Skelly was a starter at left back down the stretch of the 2024/25 season, including in the Champions League knockouts, but the rough and tumble youngster has been discarded in the 2025/26 Premier League starting lineups for Riccardo Calafiori, who has been one of the best in England this season.

In 2021, Manchester United spent 85 million euros to sign Jadon Sancho from Borussia Dortmund, and everyone thought the England international was a slam dunk transfer after watching him completely shred the Bundesliga as the perfect partner in crime to the likes of Marco Reus, Paco Alcacer, and Erling Haaland over the years in the BVB attack. Instead, Sancho was a monumental bust who collected a fat paycheck, squabbled with coaches, struggled on various loans, and did nothing but tank his transfer value to the point where the club is still having issues figuring out where to send him permanently; he will likely leave for free this coming summer transfer window.

Right now, Joshua Zirkzee is the only backup striker to Benjamin Sesko on Manchester United, and with Sesko's short term future in question due to a recent knee injury he suffered against Tottenham Hotspur, Man United have even fewer reasons to want to sell the Dutch international. Since arriving at Old Trafford, Zirkzee has been a bit of a disappointment, and like Rasmus Hojlund, he may just fit Serie A better than the Premier League.

Liverpool are going to be active in the summer 2026 transfer window again, because even though they spent a lot of money to improve their attacking positions last summer, they didn't really do a whole lot about their defense. The new fullback signings haven't worked out so far, while Giovanni Leoni looked promising as a young backup center back but did suffer a serious injury to start the 2025/26 season.

Liverpool had an ambitious summer transfer window where they signed the biggest young gem playmaker in world football in Florian Wirtz and the best striker of the 2024/25 Premier League season in Alexander Isak, spending nearly 300 million euros combined on just those two players. The Reds are still just as ambitious when eyeing potential summer 2026 transfers, and after changing their attacking lineup with three major signings (adding in Hugo Ekitike), Liverpool are now looking at a bold move in midfield.

Manchester United will be arguably the biggest buyers in the midfield transfer market next summer, and there are already a quartet of players high on their wish list in Carlos Baleba, Adam Wharton, Elliot Anderson, and Angelo Stiller. The possibility of Man United signing not one but two of these players cannot be discounted, and, lately, they seem to becoming increasingly smitten with Anderson over at Nottingham Forest amidst his huge breakout year on an otherwise awful team.

Liverpool made huge splashes in the summer 2025 transfer window, spending big on a trio of major attacking talents in strikers Alexander Isak and Hugo Ekitike, as well as attacking midfielder Florian Wirtz. The Reds won't stop there in 2026, though, as more transfer rumors continue to link them to some pretty big fish in the transfer market, including Bournemouth breakout superstar Antoine Semenyo.

Manchester United will be focusing on adding midfielders in the summer and winter transfer windows next year, but they may also try to swing the right deal at the right price for another defender. While Man United aren't desperate for defensive help with players like Matthijs de Ligt, Leny Yoro, and Noussair Mazraoui performing well with the likes of Lisandro Martinez coming back from injury to help as well, they could still use one more piece to bolster the depth.

If there's one thing Liverpool love more than anything else, then it is signing ascending young talents. Hugo Ekitike, Milos Kerkez, Jeremie Frimpong, and Florian Wirtz are examples from this past transfer window, but in previous years, players like Cody Gakpo, Ryan Gravenberch, Alexis Mac Allister, and Ibrahima Konate are more successful examples of this approach. The Reds especially love to sign top young talents from RB Leipzig, as Dominik Szoboszlai and Konate have gone on to become outright stars and leveled up their games even further at Anfield.

Manchester United are almost certainly going to sign a world-class center midfielder in the summer 2026 transfer window to help overhaul their sagging unit, and, if anything, the real question is whether or not the Red Devils will go ahead and sign two. The young Premier League trio of Elliot Anderson, Carlos Baleba, and Adam Wharton sits atop the Jim Ratcliffe transfer wishlist, but Man United are also very high on Angelo Stiller over in the Bundesliga, too, among other targets.

Chelsea are pushing to compete for the Premier League title for the first time in a while this season, as manager Enzo Maresca has made serious strides with a club that, once again, had a positive summer transfer window. A bit frustratingly, though, Chelsea didn't really address the center back position, and while young Josh Acheampong has been a positive factor, the Blues are still thin at the back.

Manchester United are going to be active players next year in both the winter and summer transfer windows in order to overhaul their midfield, as they have improved this season following a busy summer 2025 window in overhauling their attack. But the midfield is lagging behind, and if Kobbie Mainoo forces his way out of Old Trafford this winter in order to get regular playing time, then the Red Devils will be really hurting in a bad way in the middle of the park.

Liverpool were busier than any other club in the world in the summer 2025 transfer window, signing two new fullbacks, two new strikers, and the amazing Florian Wirtz to point guard their attack. So far, the Reds are actually worse off in the 2025/26 season, severely behind Arsenal in the Premier League title race and heading into the November international break with a 3-0 loss to former title rivals Manchester City.

Chelsea added a handful of young stars to bolster their attack in the summer 2025 transfer window. All of Alejandro Garnacho, Estevao Willian, Jamie Bynoe-Gittens, Liam Delap, and, of course, Joao Pedro have shown either the potential to be great or already stars for the team, particularly the teenager Willian. That being said, Chelsea still want to add one or two more high impact stars to their attack, and one more world-class winger and world-class striker could make the Blues the best team in the Premier League.

Liverpool winger Federico Chiesa has been one of the team's biggest standouts whenever he's actually been able to get on the pitch this season, though those appearances have been few and far between due to the stubborness of manager Arne Slot. The Italian international has actually outplayed Mohamed Salah for most of the 2025/26 season so far, and he has the dynamism and dribbling ability that the other wingers on the Reds are missing.

Manchester United are going to be major players in the summer transfer window for a new midfield player, as their current crop of talent isn't quite good enough, especially over the long term. Premier League breakout stars Elliot Anderson, Adam Wharton, and Carlos Baleba are widely seen as the three biggest targets for Manchester United in summer 2026 when they will become available for transfer.

Chelsea attacking midfielder Cole Palmer has been out injured since late September with a groin injury that has cost him around 15 matches, and he had already missed a couple of games to start the 2025/26 season with a similar issue. So the Blues are shutting Palmer down and playing it safe, and while they badly miss the Ballon d'Or caliber playmaker, the Blues haven't missed too much of a beat thanks to the breakout of new superstar winger Estevao Willian.