Michael Carrick says he is convinced his Manchester United squad has improved following their summer transfer business.

United spent the summer window focusing on a midfield overhaul, securing the signings of Andrey Santos from Chelsea, Youri Tielemans from Aston Villa and Carlos Baleba from Brighton. Goalkeeper Karl Darlow also joined the club on a free transfer from Leeds.

The Red Devils' net spend across the transfer window finished at £118m, less than the likes of newly promoted Ipswich and Coventry and Gary Neville was adamant that United need to invest in their defence before the end of the window.

However, despite failing to do so, Carrick is confident in the strength of his squad for the remainder of the season.

"I think we've brought some really good players into the football club, and improved the squad in different ways, individually but collectively," Carrick said during a charity golf day for his foundation.

"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.

"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."

Bounce-back against Ipswich showed United's 'character'

Carrick couldn't have asked for a worse start to the new season as his side were left humiliated by newly promoted Hull City on the opening weekend. However, after surviving an early scare, they responded with an emphatic 5-2 victory over Ipswich Town in their first home game of the campaign.

The former Red Devils midfielder was keen to point out the courage of his squad for bouncing back from such a disappointment, saying it gives him plenty of encouragement moving forward.

"Since I came back really and we got the group together, we've lost a couple of games, we've had some setbacks, but the way the boys have dealt with it gives us a lot of courage moving forward," Carrick said.

"At some point you're going to have things that go against you. Whether that's a game or a moment in games, and I've talked about it this week. I think the response that we showed and the confidence the boys had, that's when you find out quite a bit about what you are as a group.

"I thought we did a lot of good things in the first half. We had a few minutes when it didn't go well for us, we took that into the second half and played some really good football.

"A lot of people talk about the goals and the results in the end, but I think the mentality is what pleased us the most. It gives us a lot of encouragement moving forward."

'He's set the example' - Carrick waxes lyrical on Bruno

Despite several strong performers against Ipswich, the main headlines once again centred around Bruno Fernandes.

The PFA Player of the Year opened his account for the campaign with his third hat-trick for the club and another sublime assist for Bryan Mbeumo's goal.

The heroics from Fernandes led to Gary Neville labelling the club captain as the best signing post-Sir Alex Ferguson, and Carrick struggled to find his own superlatives for the Portugal international.

"I've spoken an awful lot about Bruno, and I think it just shows what he can do," Carrick added.

"I think how important he is for us, and the impact that he has. He's done it over such a long period of time and since we've started working together again, I think he's been nothing but positive all the way through.

"He's set the example every day. He trains well, his attitude is spot-on, he's desperate to win, he's desperate to do well, and then he puts in performances like that. Bruno is the first to admit it's a team game and I thought there were other individuals in the team that had a fantastic afternoon.

"Bruno gets the headlines, and I understand why. Rightly so, because the quality of his moments was pretty special at the weekend. I'm definitely sure there will be more of them as the season goes on."

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