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By NATHAN SALT - FOOTBALL REPORTER Published: 21: 43 AEDT, 24 January 2026 | Updated: 21: 43 AEDT, 24 January 2026 40 View comments When the Manchester United hierarchy convened in Iceland over the summer for something of a transfer committee pow-wow, there was total agreement that all resources needed to be pooled into revolutionising the attack. United struggled badly to score goals in the Premier League last season. Their eventual total of 44 ranked 16th in the league. Three of the four teams that scored fewer were relegated. So, in came Benjamin Sesko, Bryan Mbeumo and Matheus Cunha to the tune of more than £200million and this season United are third top scorers in the league, only behind title challengers Arsenal and Manchester City. Now, with Casemiro announcing his departure after four years, a growing expectation that Manuel Ugarte will be heading for pastures new, and question marks over Bruno Fernandes' future, mean the powers that be at United are ready to put all their eggs in the midfield basket in search of a similarly sharp uptick in performance. Jason Wilcox (left) and Omar Berrada (right) are under pressure to fix Man United's midfield To use the phrase once used by United interim boss Ralf Rangnick, United have been planning 'open heart surgery' on their midfield for some time now. Ruben Amorim was privately pushing for midfield reinforcements during the summer, only for the budget to be ring-fenced for the attack due to reasons outlined above. There is real pressure on Ineos and the likes of director of football Jason Wilcox and director of recruitment Christopher Vivell to get this midfield overhaul right. With United falling in the Money League and paying the price for a season without Europe, they can ill afford to make a series of expensive mistakes. It is why the mantra of Premier League proven talent - this will apply in the search for the next permanent manager, too - is going to be important once again. United's central midfield, particularly in the case of defensive midfielders, has been the squad's most underfunded area in recent years and it has cost multiple managers their jobs. David Moyes wanted Toni Kroos and Cesc Fabregas and got neither. Erik ten Hag wanted Frenkie De Jong and didn't get him. Amorim wanted Carlos Baleba but no deal materialised. Since 2006, United have spent £218m on defensive midfielders, bringing in Michael Carrick, Owen Hargreaves, Morgan Schneiderlin, Nemanja Matic, Casemiro and Manuel Ugarte. A near equivalent to what United spent on three new attackers last summer. Casemiro is leaving the club after four years, freeing up his enormous £375, 000 a week wages There is also a growing expectation that Manuel Ugarte will be sold at the end of the season Two decades on, Carrick is United head coach until the end of the season, Hargreaves is a pundit on TNT Sports, Schneiderlin is Strasbourg's sporting director, Matic plays for Lyon, Casemiro is leaving the club amid MLS interest from LA Galaxy, and Ugarte has failed to hit the heights since his £52m move from Paris Saint-Germain. There is Turkish interest in Ugarte, while Ajax were also exploring the potential for a loan this month to no avail. Christian Eriksen last summer and wasn't replaced, while Toby Collyer is not expected to feature in the long-term plans of the United first team as he prepares for his second Championship loan of the season. Internally there is talk of as many as four new arrivals in midfield depending on what happens with Fernandes after the World Cup - he has vowed not to take a decision on his United future until Portugal are out of the World Cup - and how contract talks with Kobbie Mainoo progress. But make no mistake. Midfield is the biggest priority this summer and the stakes could not be higher for United to get it right after neglecting it for so many years. It is no secret in the corridors of Carrington and at Old Trafford that Nottingham Forest and England star Elliot Anderson is the top midfield target this summer. Anderson's stock has soared since he won the Under-21 Euros with England in the summer to a point now where he is expected to start for England at the 2026 World Cup as well as command a £100million transfer fee on the open market. The 23-year-old is improving all the time and feels like the most complete midfielder that will be on the transfer block this summer, especially if Nottingham Forest get relegated to the Championship. His passing range would be a huge asset while also being super mobile and versatile at being able to press on as a box-to-box player, as well as sitting in front of the back four as a Casemiro replacement. Anderson will be in huge demand, that's the issue for United, so securing Champions League football is absolutely crucial given Manchester City are huge admirers of the former Newcastle United man also and they will be able to offer significantly higher wages. He's also under contract until 2029 so negotiating with Forest, who have no desire to sell, is no mean feat either. Elliot Anderson is the No 1 midfield target for both Manchester United and Manchester City Sofascore have compared Manchester United's top three summer midfield targets this season 'He's come into the England set-up and looked very accomplished, very stylish, ' former United midfielder Paul Scholes told Sky Sports recently. Baleba is one that many expect to remain high on the shortlist, not least given United tried to bring forward that move last summer late in the window amid pressure from Amorim to bolster that position to make his 3-4-2-1 system thrive. United are understood to be less concerned than some supporters with Baleba's dip in form at Brighton so far this season. His displays at the Africa Cup of Nations with Cameroon proved a timely reminder of his capabilities. Brighton have made all the right noises about not selling 22-year-old Baleba but around the league there is a feeling that Brighton will cash in come June and Baleba will be on the move for a price tag north of £60m, likely closer to £75m. Physicality is a key area of focus and Baleba would elevate the physical floor of United's midfield immeasurably, just as Moises Caicedo did for Chelsea after he left Brighton in a £115m move. Adam Wharton is another who is widely expected to be sold by Crystal Palace come the summer as they prepare for wholesale changes with captain Marc Guehi sold to Man City this month and manager Oliver Glasner leaving at the end of the season. Liverpool are expected to prioritise Wharton come the summer and so, again, United won't get a free run at the England international. Speaking to figures at United it is these three names that you routinely come back to and that is not uncommon of Ineos' approach. They plan for the long term and while there can still be bumps in the road - Liam Delap was the No 1 striker target and that deal was all-but done before he ended up at Chelsea - the hope and expectation is that two of these three are through the door before the start of the 2026-27 season. Carlos Baleba (left) and Adam Wharton (right) are in demand and neither would arrive cheap The three main targets are all going to cost £70m or more, in all likelihood, and as good as those players are, United need to be smart with their spending and find value in players with less high-profile reputations. Tyler Adams at Bournemouth is a name that has cropped up internally, as has Everton's James Garner, who has impressed under David Moyes this season. Joao Gomes at Wolves looks nailed on to land a Premier League move with Wolves' relegation to the Championship looking all but certain at this stage. Sunderland's 21-year-old star Noah Sadiki is another that can expect to receive plenty of interest from Premier League clubs, with the same applying to Alex Scott (Bournemouth), Mateus Fernandes (West Ham) and Habib Diarra (Sunderland). Clever recruitment strategy from United in the summer is to go for two top shelf, expensive central midfielders, and supplement those with at least one, possibly two affordable additions to flesh out a squad that is currently threadbare ahead of an anticipated return to Europe next season. Teenagers Ayyoub Bouaddi (18) and Christos Mouzakitis (19) are two of the premier rising stars on the continent that United would be well served to invest in, also. Ayyoub Bouaddi (right) represents one of the most talented teenage midfielders in Europe More games next season - this 40-game campaign is the fewest in 111 years and so it's safe to assume it won't be repeated - should open up avenues to academy players but it is unlikely that any player will take a Kobbie Mainoo-esque leap. Jim Thwaites looks to have a much better route to the seniors in a back four set-up, either a 4-2-3-1 or a 4-3-3 than he did in Amorim's formation, while there are also high hopes for Sekou Kone and Cristian Orozco, the latter is arriving from Colombia when he turns 18 in July. Given neither Kone, who is currently in Switzerland working with Ineos-owned Lausanne-Sport ahead of a potential loan, nor Thwaites have made their first team debuts, any expectation that they can step in and reduce the need for summer spending is somewhat unrealistic. While both are talented, as are others in the academy such as Under-21 captain Jacob Devaney, the best way to integrate them is to have a functioning and thriving midfield that allows for the next permanent boss to plug-in-and-play them in cup competitions. Midfield dysfunction has hurt academy kids of late with the likes of Jack Fletcher being pushed into unfamiliar positions and exposed by the amount of space he is having to cover. Fixing the midfield through significant expenditure can actually benefit the academy players looking to show their own qualities. (4-2-3-1): Lammens; Mazraoui, De Ligt, Yoro, Dorgu; Anderson, Baleba; Mbeumo, Fernandes, Cunha; Sesko (4-3-3): Lammens; Dalot, De Ligt, Martinez, Dorgu; Wharton, Mainoo, Fernandes; Amad, Mbeumo, Cunha
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