Manchester United manager Michael Carrick has urged the club’s hierarchy to strengthen the squad further if they are to keep pace with their Premier League title rivals.
United have spent about £85 million ($114 million) on Andrey Santos, Youri Tielemans and Karl Darlow since the end of last season. However, that figure is modest compared with the spending of fellow contenders such as Manchester City, Arsenal and Chelsea.
Carrick believes United need greater quality and squad depth as they prepare to challenge for their first English league title since 2013 while also competing in the Champions League.
The club’s record transfer fee remains the £89.5 million spent on Paul Pogba in 2016. Ahead of his first full season as permanent manager following a successful interim spell last term, Carrick called for further additions.
“I think we’ve done really good business and we’ve got really some top, top, top players,” Carrick told reporters.
“We’re delighted with that. We always want to improve. We want more, we need more, we keep looking for how we can do that. That never stops.”
Carrick guided United to a third-place finish last season after taking over from the dismissed Ruben Amorim. However, the club’s relatively low spending has frustrated some supporters, particularly with the new Premier League campaign set to begin against Hull on August 22.
“Money’s money, I get that. It’s still about the football, and that’s where the competition lies,” Carrick said.
“For now, we’ve got to make the most of it, but we’ve got to keep pushing and push everything and every boundary that we can to be able to win again.”
Asked why United had not matched the spending of other top clubs, Carrick admitted he did not have all the answers.
“To be honest, I haven’t got the answers for that. We’re working with pushing everything that we can to make the best of it,” he said.
Meanwhile, Marcus Rashford has returned to Manchester United after spending last season on loan at Barcelona. The Spanish club opted not to exercise its purchase option on the 28-year-old England international, leaving his future at Old Trafford uncertain.
Carrick said Rashford remains part of his plans.
“He’s our player, and he’s a good player and he gives us something a little bit different in the group,” he said.
“Marcus can offer us so much. He has done, and he can do again, so in that respect it’s quite exciting.”
Several United players have expressed confidence that the team can dethrone Arsenal as Premier League champions, and Carrick is similarly refusing to rule out a title challenge.
“We’ve definitely got the potential to achieve something really special,” he said.
“I’m not hiding from the fact, and we should aim to do that, but I can’t give you a definite answer on that.
“It’s certainly what we’re pushing to do because we have to, because that’s the club we are.”
