William Gallas says Manchester United ‘cannot justify’ the transfer fee they paid for one of their key summer signings.

The struggling Premier League giants spent over £200m on new recruits over the summer, bringing the likes of Benjamin Sesko, Matheus Cunha and Bryan Mbeumo to the club

The improved mood at Old Trafford over the summer has quickly disappeared during a poor start to the 2025-26 campaign.

Manchester United have won just two of their first six Premier League games to slip to 14th in the table and suffered an embarrassing Carabao Cup defeat to League Two side Grimsby Town.

The poor run has led to huge scrutiny over Ruben Amorim’s future as manager and reports that United are beginning to lose faith in the 40-year-old, who replaced Erik ten Hag last November.

Gallas believes Manchester United ‘spent a lot of money’ in the summer without actually strengthening the team greatly.

The ex-Premier League defender has also suggested United paid an overinflated price for £65m summer signing Bryan Mbeumo, who joined from Brentford.

‘I think the problem is that I find it hard to understand what they did in the transfer window,’ Gallas told Gambling Zone.

‘They have Bryan Mbeumo, and the player is good enough for most sides, but I don’t know if you can justify that transfer fee.

‘They’ve spent an awful lot of money and not really changed too many of their first-choice XI.

‘We’re always talking about money these days, and I know the prices keep on rising every year, but come on. This seems crazy.’

Mbeumo has looked bright in his seven appearances for Manchester United but has only contributed one goal – which came against Grimsby – and is yet to provide any assists.

United’s miserable start to the season has left Gallas wondering whether Amorim will still be in charge by Christmas.

Manchester United’s board appear to be backing Amorim for now but their patience will be tested if results do not improve, starting with Saturday’s clash against Sunderland.

‘The problem for Ruben right now is that he looks like he’s struggling for the solution on the bench,’ added Gallas, who played for the likes of Arsenal, Tottenham and Chelsea.

‘He looks like he’s trying to figure things out for the first time, trying to make them play better somehow. He looks lost.

‘I don’t think his body language and manner, his emotional response, gives a great impression to his players and the fans of Manchester United.

‘Looking at him, I don’t know if he will make it to Christmas, to be honest, because it feels like United are one defeat or one bad performance away from a crisis.’

While Manchester United were beaten by Brentford last time out, Sunderland continued their brilliant start to life back in the Premier League with a 1-0 win at Nottingham Forest.

That was Sunderland’s third victory from six games and leaves Regis Le Bris’ side fifth in the Premier League ahead of this weekend’s trip to Old Trafford.

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William Gallas has ignored the struggles of Manchester United and Tottenham to name a surprise team as his Premier League flops of the season.

On the domestic front it has been a season of strife, bitterness and calamity for both United and Spurs who are languishing embarrassingly close to the bottom three.

Indeed, were it not for the ineptitude of Southampton, Leicester and Ipswich then two Premier League stalwarts would have been fighting to stave off relegation.

Their campaigns, however, could still end up with a Europa League sliver lining after both clubs won the first legs of their semi finals last night.

It was a different story for Arsenal, however, who now face a mountain to climb after they were fortunate to escape from their game against Paris Saint-Germain on Tuesday with just a one-goal defeat.

Having failed to keep pace with runaway title-winners Liverpool and capitalise on the failures of Manchester City and Chelsea, Gallas cannot look past Mikel Arteta’s men for the unwanted moniker of this season’s biggest disappointments.

‘In the Premier League, Arsenal are my flops of the season!’ the former Arsenal captain told Prime Casino. 

‘If you compare last season and the one from two years ago with this season, their performance has not been good at all.

‘Their performances in the Premier League have not been good enough. I’m sorry, I’m still disappointed in them, regardless of the Champions League. After those high quality and world class performances against Real Madrid, I wanted more from them in the league.’

He added: ‘I’m angry about what happened in the league. I’m furious even, because I can’t accept one level of performance in the Champions League and a different level of performance in the Premier League from this group of players.

‘We all know that it’s difficult to be consistent in the Premier League, but that is what you have to do if you want to become the champions.

‘You have to show up in every game. I’m disappointed because Arsenal didn’t do that this season and I tipped them to win the title in August.

‘They had a great opportunity to become champions this season, and they let it go without a fight. That’s frustrating and difficult for me to understand.

‘Yes, you can say that they had some injury problems, but I don’t like excuses.’

An Arsenal defeat would pave the way for Liverpool to win the title.

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