Manchester United might be two perfect transfer windows away from challenging Man City

So what did £225million get Manchester United? That record-breaking summer transfer spend after Erik ten Hag's arrival has delivered a trophy, another cup final and a return to the Champions League. It's resulted in a major step forward for this side.

But it also left United 14 points behind champions Manchester City, who certainly left some points out there after winning the league. The scoreline in the FA Cup final at Wembley was close, but there was clearly a gulf in class.

This is the standard United are now chasing. They've certainly done well in Ten Hag's first season and that transfer window was a success. They signed five players on permanent deals and all have made the required impact.

That just exposes both how far this side had fallen and how hard it is to build a squad capable of going toe-to-toe with what Pep Guardiola has built across the city. United couldn't have asked for much more from their transfer window and had an academy graduate score 30 goals, but they remain miles behind City.

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Not only is more investment in the squad required, but United can't afford a misstep in the transfer market either. They are chasing the closest to perfection the Premier League has seen and a club that hasn't made a mistake of their own regarding recruitment in a long time.

The jury is maybe still out on Kalvin Phillips, but you probably have to go back to 2017 and the arrival of Benjamin Mendy for the last time City signed a first-team player who didn't add value to the squad. In that time there have been plenty of duds arrive at Old Trafford.

Maybe that trend is changing now, but it needs to continue. Tyrell Malacia, Lisandro Martnez, Casemiro, Christian