Deadline Day has passed, and now all the noise of transfers will quieten down until winter. It has been a long summer, with a huge World Cup in between, but now Manchester United's season really starts as they face Everton away from home on Sunday.

United ended the transfer window with three major incomings: Youri Tielemans, Andrey Santos and Carlos Baleba. The club also brought in Karl Darlow as a backup option to Senne Lammens, and Tynan Thompson from Tottenham Hotspur, who is seen as a bright prospect for the future.

This summer was mainly about rebuilding United's midfield after the departure of Casemiro and the injury to Manuel Ugarte, and United did so by adding three new signings. Baleba was the biggest deal, with the club spending an initial £65 million on the Cameroonian. Although he is currently injured, Baleba is likely to return to action in the coming weeks to make his United debut before the end of the month.

The midfield rebuild has been seen widely as a successful one, as the club have signed three players with Premier League experience, different profiles and for a combined total of around £150 million. However, United failed to make any senior first-team sales, aside from Rasmus Hojlund's move to Napoli becoming permanent, and also failed to sign a left-back or an additional attacker, which were originally part of the plan.

Many fans have been left disappointed with United's business this window. Some feel as though the club has not shown enough ambition to want to compete with the top teams; some feel the squad is not ready for the added matches of the Champions League, whereas some feel the club has had a positive summer amid financial struggles.

Despite a large section of the fanbase showing its concern and frustration as the deadline closed on Tuesday, Manchester United boss Michael Carrick has insisted his side has gotten stronger and has had a good summer given the circumstances.

In an interview with Sky, Carrick said, "I think we've grown. You go into the window and when you come out of it, you want to be stronger than you were at the start. I'm convinced we are that."

He also said: "Transfer windows are never straightforward, and this window in particular has been challenging for different reasons. 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."

In this interview, Carrick alluded to United's financial limitations this summer, due to the past mistakes made by the Glazer regime. Since INEOS took over football operations at the club, they have been less willing to pay substantial transfer fees and wages to players, hoping to avoid the same mistakes.

However, this strategy has cost them to miss out on top targets this summer, like Elliot Anderson, Lewis Hall, Mateus Fernandes and Alex Scott. This can be understandable but at the same time could be costly when thinking about challenging at the top of the Premier League table.

Manchester United approached the summer with a plan. Although not everything could be made public, there were many rumours and obvious plans in place to back Michael Carrick in his first summer as United's head coach. A lot of these plans ultimately did not come to fruition, and the summer has ended in quite an underwhelming way for many.

In terms of incomings, there is a lot of excitement around the three signings United made. Baleba is seen as a perfect partner for Kobbie Mainoo in midfield, with Tielemans bringing quality and experience, as well as Santos bringing tenacity and bravery on the ball. However, United missed out on Anderson, Scott and Fernandes due to their high prices, making them look at alternative options.

Outgoings were minimal this summer. A handful of young players were sold for small prices, like Toby Collyer, Radek Vitek and Tyler Fredricson. Marcus Rashford was expected to leave United permanently after a positive year at Barcelona, but the Catalan club chose not to activate the buy option in the deal, leading to his reintegration into the squad, where he now has a new shirt number and is expected to start regularly back on the left wing.

It can be quite fair to say that this transfer window has been disappointing, with even Carrick admitting it has been 'challenging'. The expectation was that United would go big, with Champions League football being secured and a rare opportunity to capitalise on the vulnerability of the teams around them. For example, the difficulties Aston Villa have faced this summer and the fact that four of the traditional 'Big Six' have new managers at the helm.

Ultimately, United's window did not live up to expectations, despite Carrick's positive outlook on it. United are now the only club in the 'Big Six' who are yet to spend nine figures on a player. This summer, they were the lowest spenders of the six major teams and they were also outspent by Ipswich Town and Hull City. After a successful interim stint, it is fair to say that Carrick could have been given a better opportunity to succeed.