Manchester United's Late Bid to Hijack Manchester City's £100m Anderson Move

Manchester United have already landed one major piece of their midfield rebuild. Now they are preparing to march straight into Manchester City’s path for the next.

With Casemiro heading out as a free agent – Inter Miami the likely destination – and Manuel Ugarte up for sale, United’s summer blueprint is clear: two new central midfielders at minimum, three if the market breaks their way.

Ederson is the first pillar. The Atalanta midfielder has agreed personal terms on a five-year deal, turned down other offers and given United his word. A fee of around €45m (£38m) is being thrashed out with Atalanta, and there is confidence at Old Trafford that this one gets done.

That, though, is only the start.

Anderson at the centre of a Manchester tug-of-war

After Ederson, United want a headline act. Michael Carrick’s preferred choice is Sandro Tonali from Newcastle. INEOS, though, have fixed on Nottingham Forest’s Elliot Anderson as their No 1 target.

There is a problem. City are already in the box seat.

Anderson, 23, has agreed personal terms with the League Cup and FA Cup holders and is understood to be excited by the prospect of playing under incoming manager Enzo Maresca. The looming departure of Pep Guardiola has not cooled his enthusiasm for the move.

Talks between City and Forest have accelerated. On May 27, insider Fraser Fletcher reported that negotiations were “rapidly advancing” and that a deal could be wrapped up before the end of May. Inside the game, the expectation is that City will close a package worth around £100m for a player they see as central to their next cycle.

United, though, are not walking away.

United “calling and calling” as hijack bid ramps up

United rate Anderson extremely highly and are determined not to watch him cross to the blue side of Manchester without a fight.

Transfer specialist Fabrizio Romano has already revealed that United have been “calling and calling” about Anderson, refusing to let the trail go cold even as City moved ahead. Now, according to the i, that interest is hardening into a full-scale attempt to hijack the deal.

Reporter Pete Hall writes that United are ready to make a “serious play” for the England international, even as those close to the City side of the talks insist the agreement is well advanced and will not be blown off course by Guardiola’s exit.

The timing is brutal for United. They are effectively trying to sprint into a race where City are already on the final bend.

High stakes in midfield for INEOS

If United cannot prise Anderson away, the recruitment team will pivot quickly. The midfield shortlist is long and ambitious: Carlos Baleba, Aurelien Tchouameni, Tonali and Adam Wharton are among the names under active consideration.

But Anderson is the one INEOS want as the flagship piece of a new era in the middle of the pitch. Ederson would bring power and balance. Anderson, in their eyes, would bring the spark.

So the picture is stark. Either United pull off one of the window’s most audacious hijacks and drag a near-finished deal away from their fiercest rivals, or they watch City unveil the midfielder they had earmarked as their own cornerstone.

In a summer that will define the shape of both Manchester midfields for years, this isn’t just another transfer battle. It’s a straight question: who sets the tempo in this city from now on?