Years of hard work are being undone for United Women’s team as two major threats loom – opinion

Manchester United Women have made remarkable progress over recent years. The club only started in 2018 and has risen from the second division to become one of the most consistent teams in the country. Highlights included winning the club’s first trophy in 2024, when they vanquished Tottenham Hotspur Women 4-0 to win the FA Cup final at Wembley. Last season also saw a first-ever League Cup final and an exciting run to the quarter-finals of the Champions League. Nonetheless, Marc Skinner’s side also fell away badly at the end of the season, and the fourth-placed finish saw them miss out on Europe. Sadly, the team faces two huge threats to cracking the top of the women’s game at home or on the continent. Neglectful owners Ineos have never really seemed to fully understand the women’s team or what it means to the fans. There have been early dramas, like turfing the team out of their normal training rooms for the men’s team when Carrington was being redone. There were also Sir Jim Ratcliffe’s careless, tone-deaf comments on the women’s team when he asserted that the men’s team was very much the priority back in 2024. It isn’t fair to say United haven’t signed players, and they have brought in some good additions. Jess Park, Julia Zigiotti and Fridolina Rolfo were all strong signings last summer but, crucially, Rolfo was a free transfer and Park was involved in a swap deal with Grace Clinton. United also signed players in the winter, with Ellen Wangerheim, Hanna Lundkvist and Lea Schuller, but again, not a huge amount of financial commitment was needed. Issues left unresolved The owners have been quite efficient at dealing with the men’s team, but in comparison, issues have been left to hang and fester for the women. Skinner is clearly on thin ice and not particularly popular with the fanbase, but the club seem loath to do anything about it. In addition, star players like Ella Toone, Elisabeth Terland and Melvine Malard have been linked with moves away, but there has been no public attempt to quash these rumours, leaving fans to sweat ahead of the new campaign. Lack of signings and rivals strengthening United’s biggest problem, though, is the ambition of their rivals in the transfer market in comparison to them. Chelsea are already on a different level of spending and brought in highly rated Japanese international Manaka Matsukubo last week. Arsenal, who also finished ahead of United, have raided Bayern Munich for Georgia Stanway and former Red Devil Ona Batlle from FC Barcelona. Champions Manchester City have also been busy, bringing in England internationals Beth Mead and Niamh Charles. They also managed to keep hold of their goalscoring juggernaut, Khadija (Bunny) Shaw. So not only have the three teams ahead of United strengthened, but the teams below United have also taken huge steps forward. London City Lionesses finished two places and 13 points behind the Red Devils last season, but they have very much closed the gap, at least off the pitch. They have shown massive ambition to sign multiple Ballon d’Or winner Alexia Putellas from FC Barcelona and also former United keeper Mary Earps from Paris Saint-Germain. Rivals Liverpool finished 11th last season, but even they have continued to show aggression in the market. Final thoughts Despite this complex situation, all is not lost for United. They have numerous talented youngsters and veterans at the club, and the signing of Andrea Medina is a shrewd one. In addition, not playing in Europe will allow United much more rest and should entail a stronger performance in the latter stages of the season. The summer transfer window also closes on 3rd September, so there is still plenty of time to make moves in the market. Nonetheless, the board and owners need to get a grip and take prompt action to shed the image that they couldn’t care less about the fortunes of a vital part of the club. Featured image Maja Hitij via Getty Images The Peoples Person has been one of the world’s leading Man United news sites for over a decade. Follow us on Bluesky: @peoplesperson.bsky.social Alex Browne Alex is a huge Manchester United fan, inspired by greats of his homeland such as George Best, Harry Gregg and Norman Whiteside. Alex has a Master’s degree from Queen’s University Belfast and La Universitat Rovira i Virgili in Tarragona, Spain. Having lived in the country since 2011, Alex is The Peoples Person’s Spanish football expert and is fluent in both Spanish and Catalan. He dreams of witnessing a United captain triumphantly hoisting the Premier League and Champions League trophy in the air once more.