Manchester United brought in a trio of top young players in the summer 2024 transfer window, signing Lille center back Leny Yoro from under Real Madrid and Liverpool’s noses for 60 million euros while bringing in former Bayern Munich striker Joshua Zirkzee from Bologna for jus over 40 million euros.
Their biggest addition may have been PSG defensive midfielder Manuel Ugarte, who should form a world-class axis with Kobbie Mainoo, making Casemiro’s decline a thing of the past.
In general, Manchester United spent more of their financial resources attacking a woeful defense, which was invigorated further by the addition of Bayern Munich (and former Ajax) pair Noussair Mazraoui and Matthijs de Ligt.
Despite signing three legitimately starting-caliber defenders this summer, Manchester United remain thin back there, specifically at the fullback positions after Mazraoui’s heart condition has forced him to be sidelined for a couple of weeks.
As such, Manchester United could use more help at left back, having signed a right back when they already had a great right back in Diogo Dalot, who has been the new left back after injuries to Tyrell Malacia and Luke Shaw.
Former Manchester United left back Alvaro Fernandez Carreras, a product of the Real Madrid youth academy, has been generating interest from around Europe with Juventus, Real Madrid, and now Liverpool all linked.
The Manchester Evening News’s Steven Railston reports that Manchester United actually have a hidden buy-back clause on Carreras, essentially giving the Red Devils the right of first refusal on the 21-year-old left back.
Carreras is having a great start to the 2024/25 season with Benfica, showing his chops on the global stage with an incredible performance in his side’s 4-0 romping of Champions League regulars Atletico Madrid.
Manchester United originally sold Carreras to Benfica for about nine million euros, and while Railston did not specify the exact value of the buy-back clause, Real Madrid, for example, usually retain 50 percent of rights over players and thus pay double to get them back.
So if we assume Manchester United have a buy-back option of about 20 million euros on Carreras, that’s a more than reasonable fee for a player who would be more valuable than either Shaw or Malacia on the open market due to his age.
If Carreras continues this trajectory with a strong 2024/25 season, Manchester United should at least strongly consider bringing him back to compete at left back, especially if it means taking an option away from Real Madrid and one of their biggest Premier League rivals, Liverpool.
The managing editor of The Trivela Effect, Kevin has 15 years of experience in digital media. He covered Real Madrid from 2019-2022 for The Real Champs as a site manager. His work has been featured in ESPN, Bleacher Report, Yahoo! Sports, NBC Sports, and other major outlets. You can contact him at the site’s official Twitter handle @TrivelaEffect or via the site’s official email thetrivelaeffect@gmail.com.