Man United have agreed new signing who arrives next year - and it's all down to Moises Caicedo
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(Credit: Imago)
Ben Palmer
Sat 27 September 2025 9:00, UK
Man United’s recent moves in the transfer market are being dictated by a mistake they made four years ago.
The Red Devils have never truly come to terms with the fact that they are no longer the powerhouse in European football that they once were under Sir Alex Ferguson‘s reign.
That has been reflected in their transfer strategy over the last 13 years since the Scotsman’s exit to focus on bringing in players at the peak of their powers, such as Man United’s signing of Manuel Ugarte and Casemiro in recent seasons.
But having seen their rivals be ever so successful by investing in young players, particularly from South America, United are finally making some smart signings.
Credit: Imago
United are signing Colombian defensive midfielder Cristian Orozco on a pre-contract deal that will see the now 17-year-old move to Manchester next summer.
In the window just gone, Man United signed Diego Leon, and the club have also been closely tracking Deinner Ordonez, who is also on the radar of several European giants, including Liverpool.
In recent years, there has been a huge push from English clubs to bring in young talent from South America.
Credit: Imago
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Chelsea moved to sign Estevao, Kendry Paez, and Denner prior to them being of age to move to Europe, allowing them to pay more reasonable fees for the highly coveted young talents, whilst Arsenal, Man City, and West Ham have all signed players from Brazil in recent years.
This has allowed the Blues to sign the player without needing to pay a premium to another European side, something they had to do when signing Moises Caicedo from Brighton in 2023.
Speaking of the Ecuadorian midfielder, he may be the main catalyst for United’s new approach to the transfer market.
The Standard reports that the 20-time champions of England previously decided against signing Caicedo during his “formative years” in Ecuador, with Brighton instead paying just £4million to sign the midfielder in January 2021.
He was then sold for a package that could eventually end up being worth £115m to Chelsea two and a half years later.
Caicedo has since blossomed into one of the Premier League’s stars and was voted the Blues’ Player of the Season last term.
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Whilst United are one of the world’s richest clubs, financial restrictions introduced by the Premier League and UEFA, plus the side’s diminishing status in world football, have limited the kind of players the Red Devils can attract.
The trend nowadays, thanks largely to the incredible depth of data available to scouts, is to take risks on youngsters with high potential.
And having missed on Caicedo previously, United are showing that they are keen to avoid making similar mistakes in the future with their signings of Leon and Orozco.