Man Utd ‘ready to spend’ £150m on three midfielders as detailed breakdown and nine targets are given
Man Utd will attempt to buy three midfielders for £150m as a report reveals exactly how the Red Devils plan to spend their money.
The Red Devils hierarchy were criticised last summer for failing to improve their midfield after opting to spend the majority of their budget on attacking players.
That tactic seems to have worked as Man Utd went from scoring the fifth least goals in the Premier League to the third most so far this term.
Man Utd are now planning to use a large chunk of their summer budget on finally improving their midfield with Casemiro leaving on a free transfer at the end of the season, while Manuel Ugarte is expected to be sold.
That leaves Man Utd light on numbers in there and there have been constant rumours over the past six months about who the Red Devils could sign.
A report earlier today insisted that Man Utd are ‘leading the race’ to sign Brighton midfielder Carlos Baleba, while Nottingham Forest’s Elliot Anderson, Newcastle’s Sandro Tonali and West Ham’s Mateus Fernandes are just a few of the players linked.
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The Daily Mail is now reporting that Man Utd are ‘ready to spend in the region of £150million to sign three central midfielders this summer’ as they look to push the Red Devils towards a title challenge.
Man Utd are clear on how much they want to spend on each midfielder and the Red Devils ‘have earmarked around £80m for a marquee signing to replace Casemiro’.
The Red Devils are expecting Ugarte to be sold this summer and are ‘prepared to spend around £40m’ on replacing the Uruguay international, who signed from Paris Saint-Germain in a deal worth around £50m.
There seems to be a £10m bit of leeway in the £15om figures with the Daily Mail insisting that Man Utd ‘could strengthen their squad by signing a third midfielder for about £20m’.
The report names Anderson – who is unlikely to cost too much – Baleba, Tonali, Crystal Palace’s Adam Wharton and Real Madrid’s Aurelien Tchouameni as potential targets for the £80m ‘marquee signing’.
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West Ham’s Fernandes, as well as Bournemouth duo Alex Scott and Tyler Adams seem to fall into the £40m bracket, while Southampton’s Shea Charles is the only name mentioned as potentially falling into the £20m section.
Ferdinand: Anderson is ‘a wonderful player’
Man Utd legend Rio Ferdinand reckons the Red Devils should be prioritising a move to sign Nottingham Forest’s Anderson this summer.
Ferdinand said on his YouTube channel: “Beginning of the season everyone was talking about [Carlos] Baleba, he seems to have gone off the boil a little bit form wise.
“Elliot Anderson, he seems to have jumped to the front of the queue. I think he’s a wonderful player.
“I think Elliot Anderson is the right type not only of player but character, I think he’d be a good addition to the squad.
“Tonali is a big talent that everyone is talking about, Guimaraes is another big talent that everyone is talking about, but I just think the type of midfielder United need is somebody who is a bit more all-action, who can cover ground, who is dynamic, who is robust, strong, who can drive a team.
“Right now Anderson seems to be ticking those boxes. But I think there are a few other young guns out there who I won’t mention their names yet because I don’t want anyone else to get on that scent.”
