The big transfer deal of the summer window is finally done.
Paul Pogba is a Manchester United player at last. (Again).
Jose Mourinho said he wanted four new signings when he took over the Old Trafford hot seat from Louis van Gaal, and Pogba completes the set, after he snapped up Eric Bailly, Zlatan Ibrahimovic and Henrikh Mkhitaryan.
This season is very much a fresh start for the one-time perennial champions after Mourinho took charge following three disappointing years under David Moyes and then Van Gaal, but the question is, how will they do?
We asked the finest minds in the JOE team for their take on how it will pan out, and just to make things scientific, we also got the bods over at Football Manager to run a season-long simulation for us.
Dion Fanning
Jose Mourinho may be showing indications he has peaked as a manager, but he has energised United with his signings. In a league that has no outstanding team, Pogba and Mkhitaryan could shift things in their favour.
There was a time when a club’s league position the year before would be a strong indicator of how they would perform, but things have been more fluid in the Premier League, even before Leicester came along.
United can make the leap as long as Mourinho’s increasingly embittered ramblings don’t become counter-productive, as they did at Chelsea. He should get one year before he really pisses people off though.
Europe doesn’t matter for United this season and the cups don’t matter. Mourinho will be desperate to show that he belongs at Old Trafford and winning the title is the way to do that.
Predicted finish: Champions
**
Carl Anka
Yes we (I’m an Essex based United fan, yada yada) have Pogba, but the back four is shaky as hell, the midfield too ponderous, the wide men not good enough. Still no idea what version of Jose we will get; will he be the man who lead Chelsea to a league title? Or the man who seemed completely out of ideas once Hazard realised he could go to Real Madrid whenever he wanted?
Having one of the 10 best players in the world in your side is a great thing, but as Deschamps showed us as the Euros, Pogba is so talented, it can be easy to use him to cover other failings in the side, rather than do the sensible thing and GET RID OF THE FAILINGS.
Ibra strikes me as a deluxe Berbatov - very impressive, capable of winning things on his own, will probably bag 5 goals in one game and yet won’t end up as THE guy.
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And then there’s Wayne Rooney - who is the albatross around United's neck. Sloppy in possession, shorn of his explosive half yard with the ball, and prone to those silly 40 yard cross field balls (I can’t stand them, they allow the oppositions defence to reset and just look good for TV). United will have a good cup run, but spending £150m + does not undo the damage Moyes and Van Gaal did. Nice having Shaw back, mind.
Predicted finish: 4th
**
Tom Victor
It is the first time in a while that Jose Mourinho will go into a season without being the focal point himself, and everyone will be curious as to how easy he will find it to take a step back with his aura not quite what it was 12 months ago.
Each of United's four new signings addresses a key need: defensive strength (Bailly), star power (Pogba), guaranteed goals (Ibrahimovic) and a way to bully Juan Mata into an exit (Mkhitaryan), but Pep Guardiola has spent well at Manchester City with less fanfare and should have enough to edge it.
Predicted finish: 2nd
**
Richard Beech
While some of the signings made this summer seem exciting on paper – Zlatan and Pogba in the same window is quite a feat – they still don't address some of the key issues at the heart of Manchester United's post-Fergie problems. The squad is poorly balanced and far, far too big.
Mourinho doesn't have much time to inflate the egos of reserve players, which often leads to tension and division in his dressing rooms. Jose is a strong enough manager to drop Rooney if he needs to, to sub Mata off after bringing him on as a sub if he needs to, to upset one of Germany's most decorated football heroes if he needs to.
It will be a good year for Man United on the pitch, but there will be some casualties along the way, and Mourinho won't be one of them. He'll set himself up nicely for next season.
One potential pitfall though is that Man City's squad looks better than United's, and if Pep Guardiola gets the better of Jose we could see the return of the bitter, outlandish Jose that none of us particularly like.
Predicted finish: 3rd
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Alex Finnis
Like he did when he returned to Chelsea, I think Mourinho will win the league in his second season at United, but I wouldn't be surprised if he bucked that trend and claimed the title right away.
In Bailly, Pogba, Mkhitaryan and Ibrahamovic, they've signed players that really strengthen the spine of the team – something that's always been vital to successful Mourinho sides – and they will become a side that is hard to beat again. I'm predicting a very close second – I just feel sorry for Juan Mata.
Predicted finish: 2nd
**
Rob Burnett
Jose Mourinho finally has the job he's wanted for the last decade. All that fawning over the club when he was in opposition - like repeatedly calling Sir Alex Ferguson "Boss" and "my friend" didn't pay off when they went for David Moyes instead of him, but United have now rather been forced into it after three years of underachievement.
So can Jose take them back to the top? Of course he can. His track record proves he is as close as you can get to a certainty in modern football, given the right conditions. And he has those at United: big club, high expectations and crucially, plenty of money to spend. And spend he has - largely to try to fix some of the problems Fergie left behind (like chronic under-investment in the midfield, for example).
Mourinho will win them the title, but they will have to wait til next season for that.
Predicted finish: 2nd
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Kevin Beirne
There’s no doubting that Manchester United have strengthened over the summer, but the problem for Jose Mourinho and co is that so have most of their rivals.
Chelsea still have the majority of a squad that won the Premier League at a canter two seasons ago (and no European distractions) while City have added Pep Guardiola and have a generally more talented squad than United. Zlatan Ibrahimovic is a big-name signing, but don’t expect him to carry United this year.
Mourinho is going to have to make some big calls this season about whether or not to keep Wayne Rooney and if younger players like Jesse Lingard and Phil Jones (he’s still just 24) are up to scratch.
Those who say the Europa League won’t be a distraction for United are ignoring the simple truth that a club of their stature will be expected to make at least the quarter-finals, meaning it could actually prove more draining than Arsenal’s annual second-round exit. Jose Mourinho will improve United, but there’s only so many cracks he can paper over by himself.
Predicted finish: 3rd
**
Football Manager 2016
In our FM16 simulation Zlatan Ibrahimovic is a huge success in his first season in the Premier League, bagging 19 goals. But it isn't enough for United to win the title. They ultimately finish second, five points off champions Manchester City.
It's a trophyless season for the club in fact, as Chelsea take the FA Cup and Liverpool win the League Cup.
Predicted finish: 2nd
So there you have it. Get your bets on now, folks.
Read more from SportsJOE:
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And then there’s Wayne Rooney - who is the albatross around United's neck. Sloppy in possession, shorn of his explosive half yard with the ball, and prone to those silly 40 yard cross field balls (I can’t stand them, they allow the oppositions defence to reset and just look good for TV). United will have a good cup run, but spending £150m + does not undo the damage Moyes and Van Gaal did. Nice having Shaw back, mind.
Predicted finish: 4th
**
It will be a good year for Man United on the pitch, but there will be some casualties along the way, and Mourinho won't be one of them. He'll set himself up nicely for next season.
One potential pitfall though is that Man City's squad looks better than United's, and if Pep Guardiola gets the better of Jose we could see the return of the bitter, outlandish Jose that none of us particularly like.
Predicted finish: 3rd
**
In our FM16 simulation Zlatan Ibrahimovic is a huge success in his first season in the Premier League, bagging 19 goals. But it isn't enough for United to win the title. They ultimately finish second, five points off champions Manchester City.
It's a trophyless season for the club in fact, as Chelsea take the FA Cup and Liverpool win the League Cup.
Predicted finish: 2nd
So there you have it. Get your bets on now, folks.
Read more from SportsJOE:
