Manchester United's Midfield Revolution: Targeting Adam Wharton and Mateta

Manchester United’s summer rebuild has already ripped up the script, but one of the club’s most respected former coaches believes the real statement is still to come – and it might run straight through Selhurst Park.

Rene Meulensteen, once Sir Alex Ferguson’s trusted lieutenant, wants United to double down on their midfield revolution and raid Crystal Palace for Adam Wharton – and possibly Jean-Philippe Mateta – in a £130m swoop that would harden Michael Carrick’s squad for a genuine title tilt.

Wharton over the big continental names

United’s midfield plan looked in danger of drifting early in the window. Sandro Tonali, Mateus Fernandes and Elliot Anderson all slipped away, heading elsewhere for a combined £301m – numbers INEOS simply refused to match.

That restraint has opened the door to something sharper.

A £50m agreement with Chelsea for Brazilian midfielder Andrey Santos is already in place. Youri Tielemans has arrived after United cleverly triggered the £35m release clause in his Aston Villa contract. Two smart deals. Two different profiles. But Meulensteen insists the job is only two-thirds done.

“United need to sign at least two, if not three, midfielders this transfer window,” he told Tipman Tips. “That’s the position where they have to really, really strengthen, especially with more competitions coming up.”

Names like Aurélien Tchouaméni, Ayyoub Bouaddi and Manu Kone have dominated the gossip columns. Meulensteen would look closer to home. For him, the answer is already in the Premier League – and already tormenting top-flight midfields.

He wants Adam Wharton.

Rated at around £80m, the Palace midfielder has caught the eye with his poise and precision. Meulensteen sees a player tailor-made to sit alongside Kobbie Mainoo, Santos and Tielemans in a refreshed United engine room.

“What United needs is diversity in its recruitment, instead of bringing three of the same type of players in,” he said. “You’ve already got Kobbie Mainoo, who’s a good ball player and he brings good energy to the team. So, what they need is a player who is very dynamic and strong.

“I always like good, technically gifted footballers in the midfield. I’ve liked Adam Wharton for United for a while now because he is so good on the ball and very calm under pressure.

“He finds any of those front five with one decisive pass, and he rips the opposition right open, and I love that.”

Meulensteen also namechecks Carlos Baleba as a viable option – “very young, very promising, very dynamic, quick, but slightly different to the others I’ve mentioned” – but it’s Wharton he keeps circling back to. The message is clear: if United are serious about building a midfield that can control games at the highest level, they should be shopping at Palace, not just in Madrid or Munich.

A £50m striker and a warning on youth

Midfield is only half of Meulensteen’s concern. For all the excitement around Benjamin Sesko, he believes United still lack the kind of seasoned centre forward who can drag a title race in their direction.

“I still think they need to do something in the striker position as well as midfield reinforcements,” he said. “I would rather see United bring in a more experienced striker.”

He even dares to mention the dream scenario.

“Now, I don’t think he will be tempted to leave Bayern this summer, but if United could attract someone like Harry Kane, then suddenly you are in a great position to start challenging for the title.”

Kane, he accepts, is “probably out of reach at the moment”. So the focus shifts to players with Premier League scars and goals to match. That’s where Jean-Philippe Mateta comes in.

“A strong striker, proven himself in the Premier League again this season,” Meulensteen said. “There are different attributes that he brings – you can play through him, he can score a goal himself.”

Palace would not let Mateta go cheaply. A £50m fee is the figure being floated, and when you add Wharton’s valuation, the proposed raid on south London edges towards £130m. For Meulensteen, that kind of outlay is not indulgence. It’s insurance.

“You can’t just keep relying on young players in attack,” he warned. “Otherwise you keep on throwing people up there like (Bryan) Mbeumo or (Matheus) Cunha, who obviously can do the job, but they’re not real strikers.”

He also flagged Kerim Alajbegović, the young RB Salzburg forward who impressed at the World Cup, as a talent to watch. But again, he pushed back on the idea that United can simply bet the house on potential.

“The young striker from RB Salzburg, Kerim Alajbegović, who’s a very promising talent, but again very young, and it’s not a certainty that he will fit in straight away. Not only at Man United but also in the Premier League, because it’s such a different league to all the others.”

The theme is unmistakable: youth plus experience, not youth instead of it.

Defensive doubts and the Lammens question

Meulensteen’s checklist does not end in midfield and attack. He has watched United’s back line lurch from one injury crisis to another and sees a pattern that needs breaking.

“I still think at the back, obviously there are good options there, but the one thing that United has suffered through over recent years has been an instability in that area,” he said. “Too many injuries, constantly mixing the defence.

“One day it’s Leny Yoro, and then it’s Ayden Heaven, and then it’s Harry Maguire, and then it’s Lisandro Martinez, and then it’s Matthijs De Ligt. So that’s something that definitely needs to change at United.”

The goalkeeping situation also earns a measured but pointed assessment. Senne Lammens has impressed since coming in, and Meulensteen is happy to admit he misjudged him at first.

“Lammens, who’s come in, has done extremely well. I was possibly one of the sceptical ones, you know, at first I thought I still have to wait and see, but he’s done well.”

Then comes the caveat that will echo inside Carrick’s office.

“Is he going to be the permanent, top goalkeeper that United need for years to come? I think that remains to be seen, but yeah, he’s started well.”

A window that could reopen the title door

Strip away the individual names and price tags, and Meulensteen’s vision is simple: get the recruitment right and United can step back into a conversation they have largely watched from the outside for more than a decade.

The Dutchman believes the foundations are already in place under Carrick.

“Of course, it starts with clever recruitment, obviously, and making sure that those players have all added value,” he said. “United cannot afford to bring players in where everybody, after three months of scratching their heads, is thinking to themselves, why did you buy him?”

He is convinced United still have the pull to land elite talent, helped by their return to the Champions League.

“Yes, I do think that United is still capable of attracting those big-name players, especially now that they’re back in the Champions League.”

The stakes are obvious. United have not lifted the Premier League trophy for 17 years. Meulensteen sees a rare opportunity to change that trajectory – but only if this summer is ruthless, coherent and brave.

“So yeah, if Michael and United’s recruitment is right, where everybody can say that the team has definitely strengthened, and if they get off to a good start, because that is important, they will be there or thereabouts for the title next season, I really do think that.

“Because I think Michael has created a nice base, a nice foundation to build upon.”

The blueprint is on the table: Wharton’s passing, Mateta’s power, a settled defence, a clear hierarchy in goal. Now the question hangs over Old Trafford – will United lean into that plan and finally build a squad that looks and behaves like champions again?