Manchester United have used just 23 of their 25 available Premier League squad slots, meaning they could still add signings.
Manchester United v Manchester City - Premier League 2026/27
Michael Carrick's Man Utd can still sign free agents before the January transfer window (Image: Getty)
Four matches into the new Premier League season, Manchester United are sat in the lower half of the standings with four points. Several of their summer signings are still adapting while one, Carlos Baleba, remains sidelined awaiting his club debut due to injury. The transfer window has now closed and all 20 top-tier sides have registered their official squads for the season. The winter transfer window remains several months away but Michael Carrick has the ability to make additions to the squad in the interim.
Youri Tielemans has been a consistent starter following his arrival from Aston Villa while Andrey Santos has appeared less frequently after completing a £48m transfer from Chelsea. Despite securing those two additions - alongside Baleba and new goalkeeper Karl Darlow - United have taken up just 23 of the 25 permitted positions in their Premier League squad. This leaves room for further new additions to join the ranks.
United and their Premier League rivals are limited to free agents until the window reopens but they don't require a new arrival to be homegrown, having already filled their eight homegrown positions with Darlow, Amad, Tom Heaton, Harry Maguire, Dermot Mee, Mason Mount, Marcus Rashford and Luke Shaw.
Furthermore, those born after January 1, 2005, do not count towards the senior squad quota. This clarifies why younger first-team players such as Kobbie Mainoo and Leny Yoro are absent from the complete roster below.
United would still be required to clear several hurdles should they wish to recruit a free agent. The player concerned would need to have already been unattached to a club when the transfer window closed, while the club would require written permission from the Premier League to add them to their squad of available players, in accordance with rule U7.
Premier League rule U8 stipulates that, alongside other relevant documentation, all clubs must submit any proposed contract when attempting to register a new player. While United could pursue free transfers, section V4 confirms that the Premier League Board also retains absolute discretion to reject any application to register a player.
There is precedent for such a move. Several Premier League clubs have snapped up unattached players outside the window in recent seasons, with Wolves signing Diego Costa in September 2022 and West Ham re-signing Lukasz Fabianski in September of last year.
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Kasimpasa v Galatasaray - Turkish Super Lig
Mauro Icardi is one of the high-profile free agents currently available (Image: Getty)
A number of high-profile players remain without a club at the time of writing. Among them are Jadon Sancho and Tyrell Malacia - who departed Old Trafford when their respective contracts expired at the end of June - and former Paris Saint-Germain striker Mauro Icardi.
In early September, Carrick told Sky Sports he was satisfied that his squad had strengthened during the summer window. Nevertheless, he acknowledged the difficulties the club faced in the transfer market.
"Transfer windows are never straightforward and this window in particular has been challenging for different reasons," he said at a charity golf day. "There's a lot of money being spent in and around the league itself, and I think we've made the most of the situation that we've found ourselves in.
"That's the world we live in. Teams at certain points are going to spend a lot of money. Sometimes it's going to be more than what we spend, sometimes maybe not.
"We've got to make the most of what we can and understand where we're at. I think we're a very good team, we want to keep getting better."
Karl Darlow, Tom Heaton, Senne Lammens, Dermot Mee
Patrick Dorgu, Diogo Dalot, Matthijs de Ligt, Harry Maguire, Lisandro Martinez, Noussair Mazraoui, Luke Shaw
Carlos Baleba, Bruno Fernandes, Mason Mount, Andrey Santos, Youri Tielemans, Manuel Ugarte
Amad, Matheus Cunha, Bryan Mbeumo, Marcus Rashford, Benjamin Sesko, Joshua Zirkzee