United have two ‘new’ signings already on their books ahead of next season

FRUGALITY is not normally a word you associate with football transfers - and not with United either.

Despite their reputation as a club with a strong academy that produces homegrown players, they have never been shy of spending a few quid, even in the Sir Alex Ferguson era.

More lately that desire to spend big on world-class players has been more pronounced, with Louis van Gaal’s tenure seeing Angel Di Maria, Anthony Martial and Luke Shaw arriving for inflated fees and that policy continuing under Jose Mourinho.

Ole Gunnar Solskjaer has been keen to move away from a spend-first policy, but the Norwegian still lavished £150m last summer on the signings of Harry Maguire, Aaron Wan-Bissaka and Daniel James - and almost £50m more in January on Bruno Fernandes.

Whether we see such gargantuan fees again in football is, perhaps, in doubt right now. It’s already been suggested the near £200m fee Paris Saint Germain paid for Neymar in 2017 will remain an outlier for years to come. The coronavirus pandemic has certainly put things into stark perspective and its financial consequences are very real for all football clubs, United included.

Solskjaer and his staff, therefore, will be tasked with squeezing every ounce of value from the current resources at Old Trafford this summer.

They may have received an early blow in this regard, with the news that Shanghai Shenhua are standing firm over Odion Ighalo, unwilling to allow the striker to extend his loan stay.

But no matter, there are two pieces of business United can still complete to boost their squad for next season.

Angel Gomes is one. The 19-year-old