Manchester United's Midfield Dilemma: Summer Transfer Targets

Manchester United fans know this feeling too well. The calendar says July, the club is back in the Champions League, and the market is moving all around them. Yet Old Trafford remains stuck in neutral.

They’ve seen this film before: money burned, squads unbalanced, promises of “smart spending” that never quite materialise. So there’s an uneasy tension now. On one hand, there’s a genuine appreciation for restraint after years of waste. On the other, a nagging fear that Michael Carrick is heading into a four-front season armed with too little firepower in the area of the pitch that matters most.

Big stage, quiet window

A surprise third-place finish dragged United back into the Champions League and was supposed to trigger a statement summer. A reset. A show of intent.

Instead, the only significant move in sight is still stuck in the departure lounge. Ederson’s £35 million switch from Atalanta remains incomplete, delayed while the midfielder represented Brazil at the World Cup. The deal is seen as a formality, but formalities don’t win points in August, and the longer the wait drags on, the louder the anxiety grows.

United fans have watched Elliot Anderson head to Manchester City. They’ve seen Bruno Fernandes and Sandro Tonali end up at Spurs. Midfielders are flying off the shelves at eye-watering prices, and United’s basket is still empty.

The stakes went up another notch with Manuel Ugarte’s serious World Cup injury, stripping Carrick of a key ball-winner just as the season’s demands loom into view. One injury, one delay, and suddenly a squad that had begun to look balanced feels light again.

Yet the market isn’t bare. It’s just brutal.

Bouaddi: the dreamer’s choice

Ayyoub Bouaddi has become the name that lights up every recruitment meeting and every fan forum. The Lille teenager arrived at the World Cup already on the radar of Europe’s elite. Ninety minutes in, he was on everybody’s lips.

His performance for Morocco in the tournament opener against Brazil was the sort that changes careers. Composed, fearless, technically pristine. At just 18, he looked like he’d been patrolling that midfield for a decade.

Given United’s need for a midfielder who can both win the ball and use it, the links were inevitable. But so was the competition. Every major club in Europe has circled, and any deal would be expensive, even before Ederson’s fee is factored in.

That’s the dilemma. Can United justify another big outlay in the same zone of the pitch? Maybe not. Can they walk away from a player who looks like a generational talent? That’s a harder question to answer.

Berge: the sensible swing

At the other end of the spectrum sits Sander Berge, the sort of name that doesn’t set social media alight but makes football people nod.

For years, the Norwegian was tipped for a move to the Premier League’s upper tier. It never quite landed. He impressed at Sheffield United, had a short spell at Burnley, and then found a home at Fulham in 2024.

Now, at 28, he’s using the World Cup stage to remind everyone what he can do. Strong, tidy, reliable, with the ability to knit play together and offer a different physical profile in midfield. Not glamorous, but not to be dismissed either.

An “increasingly desperate” United turning to Berge has been floated more than once. Desperation or not, it would be a pragmatic move. He’d cost a reasonable fee, bring experience, and offer something different to the current options. Sometimes the solution isn’t the headline name, but the one that quietly raises the floor of a team.

Baleba: talent at a terrifying price

Carlos Baleba is the kind of player that divides boardrooms. United’s director of football, Jason Wilcox, clearly believes the Cameroon international can grow into one of the Premier League’s outstanding midfielders. United tried hard to sign him last summer, but Brighton’s £100m price tag stopped the deal in its tracks.

That number has not moved.

What makes the situation even more complicated is that Baleba’s 2025-26 campaign didn’t quite justify that valuation. He showed flashes of the dynamism that excites scouts, but not the consistency you’d expect for a nine-figure fee.

The talent is real. At 22, he could transform a midfield with his energy and range. But there’s a line between ambition and recklessness, and £100m for a player who still has plenty to prove sits dangerously close to the wrong side of it for United.

Scott: the rising Premier League operator

If Bouaddi is the future star and Baleba the expensive gamble, Alex Scott is the Premier League-ready option on an upward curve.

The Bournemouth midfielder played a central role in the club’s historic sixth-place finish and first-ever qualification for European football. Calm on the ball, intelligent off it, he has grown steadily under pressure, becoming the sort of player who dictates games rather than simply survives them.

Some pundits felt he was unlucky to miss out on England’s World Cup squad in North America. Liverpool have been heavily linked since Andoni Iraola swapped the Vitality Stadium for Anfield, which only adds to his allure.

United’s interest is real, and the numbers tell a story: four goals and two assists from a deep-lying role last season, and a clear sense that there is more to come. Bournemouth are open to a sale, but only at what they call the “right price” – believed to be at least £70m.

That leaves United in a familiar position: staring at a player with obvious potential, but a valuation that forces a cold, hard judgment. Is Scott a £70m midfielder today, or are they being asked to pay tomorrow’s price now?

Santos: the attainable wildcard

Then there is Andrey Santos, the name that prompted a mixed, almost weary reaction from United’s online fanbase when it emerged over the weekend that he is on the club’s radar.

The Brazilian was once tagged as a future Selecao star after breaking into Vasco da Gama’s first team at 16 back in 2021. The trajectory seemed clear: early breakthrough, big move, national team staple.

The reality has been messier. Despite being on Chelsea’s books since 2023, Santos only began to see serious minutes last season under Liam Rosenior. He didn’t make Carlo Ancelotti’s World Cup squad, a snub that raised eyebrows given Brazil’s lack of dynamism in midfield.

That absence feeds the scepticism. If he can’t make a Brazil squad crying out for energy, why should United build around him?

Yet the raw material is there. Former Chelsea boss Enzo Maresca believed Santos could thrive as a deep-lying midfielder, and the glimpses he has shown suggest a player who reads the game well and uses the ball with purpose.

Crucially, he is available. Chelsea are very open to a sale, which immediately makes him the most obtainable name on United’s list. No £100m stand-off. No bidding war with half of Europe. Just a realistic deal for a 22-year-old with room to grow.

Right now, that matters. With the clock ticking, Champions League nights on the horizon and Ugarte sidelined, United may be forced to prioritise the deals they can actually do over the ones they dream about.

Ederson should arrive. Another midfielder almost certainly has to follow. Whether that’s the elegance of Bouaddi, the reliability of Berge, the potential of Baleba, the polish of Scott or the promise of Santos will say a lot about what kind of club Manchester United want to be in this new era – and how far they truly believe this Carrick project can go.