Guardian writers’ predicted position 6th (NB: this is not necessarily Jamie Jackson’s prediction but the average of our writers’ tips) Last season’s position 6th Odds to win the league (via Oddschecker) 25-1 In days of yore – well, the start of last season when Manchester United had finished second the previous term and were bolstered by the signings of Jadon Sancho, Raphaël Varane and Cristiano Ronaldo – billing a fourth-place finish as acceptable would have been, erm, unacceptable.
Under Ole Gunnar Solskjær winning a 21st crown was the ambition. Now, after the poorest of campaigns which ended with the team in sixth, 35 points behind Manchester City and a third manager in less than a year in place in Erik ten Hag, should the Dutchman’s team place fourth this would be a minor miracle.
Why it might happen: the 52-year-old has signed Tyrell Malacia, a 22-year-old dynamic left-back, Christian Eriksen on a free (the silky playmaker is possibly the best value of the window) as well as Lisandro Martínez, a feisty defender, from Ajax.
If – a big one – Frenkie de Jong follows from Barcelona Ten Hag will have a complete quartet of his targets: fair reason for optimism.