Manchester United are being given a costly reminder as Frenkie de Jong transfer saga goes on

You could be forgiven for forgetting that the summer transfer window is only ten days old.

Since the padlocks on the window were removed and the purse strings on clubs' budgets were loosened, Liverpool, Manchester City and Tottenham Hotspur have wasted no time in strengthening their respective squads ahead of the start of the new season. Liverpool have swooped for Calvin Ramsay and Darwin Nunez, City have unveiled Erling Haaland and Spurs have added Yves Bissouma to their list of additions, following the earlier signings of Fraser Forster and Ivan Perisic.

Manchester United, meanwhile, have done little else but release their end-of-season retained list. To say that it has been a quiet start to the window in M16 would be an understatement.

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But while it is fair to point out that the window is only a little over a week old, and no shortage of players remain on holiday ahead of pre-season preparations starting over the coming week or so, United are already risking being left behind in their own plans to strengthen the squad. The appointment of Erik ten Hag as their new manager in April was seen as giving United the best chance to start the transfer window with a flourish, getting at least a couple of deals over the line while the chord raising the curtain to open the window was still being pulled on.

It is no secret that United are working to try and reach an agreement with Barcelona for the transfer of midfielder Frenkie de Jong, but substantial, consistent links connecting anyone else with a move to Old Trafford, certainly imminently, are dry. Aside from De Jong, you would struggle to pick out any other deals that you know for a