Manchester United's Midfield Dilemma: Summer Transfer Strategies

Manchester United fans have been here before.

They know what reckless spending looks like, what a bloated, incoherent squad feels like, and how quickly optimism can be drowned in transfer regret. They carry those scars into every summer window now. Prudence is no longer a buzzword at Old Trafford; it’s a defence mechanism.

Yet even the most financially cautious among them are starting to shift in their seats.

United are back in the Champions League after a surprise third-place finish, a season that felt ahead of schedule under Michael Carrick. That achievement was supposed to be the launchpad. Big summer. Big signings. A squad built to cope with the strain of four competitions in 2026-27.

So far? Nothing completed.

Ederson’s £35 million move from Atalanta remains stuck in the “formality” phase, delayed while he represented Brazil at the World Cup. On paper, it’s done. On the pitch, he’s still not a United player. And as the days tick by, supporters watch others move.

• Elliot Anderson to Manchester City.
• Bruno Fernandes and Sandro Tonali to Spurs.

United, once the great disruptors of the market, are standing still while rivals reshape their midfields.

Carrick’s need is obvious and urgent. The World Cup only sharpened it. Manuel Ugarte’s serious injury ripped a hole straight through United’s plans, robbing them of a combative presence they had banked on. In a market where midfielders are trading for “mad money”, as one executive privately puts it, finding a ball-winner or a playmaker who fits both the budget and the brief feels like chasing shadows.

But there are options. Imperfect, expensive, risky – yet options all the same.

Ayyoub Bouaddi – the generational gamble

Ayyoub Bouaddi had already piqued interest at Lille, but what he did in the World Cup opener changed the temperature of the conversation. At 18, lining up for Morocco against Brazil, he played with a calm that bordered on arrogant. He took the ball under pressure, dictated tempo, snapped into challenges, and never once looked overawed.

Every scout in the stadium scribbled the same word: composed.

United were immediately linked. They have to be when a young, ball-playing, ball-winning midfielder explodes onto the scene like that. Bouaddi fits the profile almost too perfectly.

But there’s a catch. There always is.

He will not come cheap, and United have already committed serious money to Ederson. Can they really justify another major outlay in the same area of the pitch on an 18-year-old, no matter how gifted? That’s the tension. The club’s recruitment team see what everyone else sees: a player who looks like he belongs in the “generational” bracket. The accountants see risk stacked on risk.

Sander Berge – the left-field lifeline

At the other end of the spectrum sits Sander Berge, the name that never quite went away.

For years, he felt destined for one of the Premier League’s elite. The move never landed. Instead, he built a solid reputation at Sheffield United, took a detour via Burnley, and resurfaced at Fulham in 2024.

Now, on the World Cup stage, he’s reminding people why those early predictions existed. His performances for Norway have reignited talk that United, feeling the squeeze of a difficult market, could turn to the 28-year-old as a pragmatic solution.

On paper, it makes sense. Berge offers something different: height, presence, a smoother passing range than a traditional destroyer, and experience of English football. He would not command the kind of fee that makes boards nervous or supporters suspicious.

He is not the marquee name many dreamed of when Champions League football returned to Old Trafford. But as the window drags on, he starts to look less like a compromise and more like a sensible bridge between need and reality.

Carlos Baleba – talent at a terrifying price

Carlos Baleba is the one that won’t go away inside the club.

Jason Wilcox, United’s director of football, pushed hard for him last summer, only to walk away when Brighton refused to budge from a £100m asking price. A line was drawn. There are statements of ambition, and then there is financial self-sabotage.

Here’s the twist: Brighton still want the same money.

That stubbornness jars with Baleba’s last campaign. The Cameroon international showed flashes of what he could become, but he did not dominate the 2025-26 season in a way that justifies a nine-figure fee. The raw materials are there – dynamism, athleticism, the ability to carry the ball through the thirds – yet he remains a work in progress.

United know he would improve their midfield. They also know that paying £100m for a player who “could be” one of the best in the league, rather than one who already is, would invite a level of scrutiny they can do without.

In another era, they might have done it anyway. In this one, with scars from previous extravagance still visible, it feels like a line they cannot cross.

Alex Scott – the Premier League climber

Alex Scott is on a different trajectory entirely. He’s not a hype player. He’s an evidence player.

At Bournemouth, he quietly became the heartbeat of a side that punched its way into Europe for the first time in the club’s history, finishing sixth in the Premier League. From a deep-lying role, he chipped in with four goals and two assists, but those numbers only tell a fraction of the story. He controlled games, linked defence to attack, and played with a maturity that belied his 22 years.

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

United are in that conversation too.

Bournemouth, though, are in no mood to be bullied. They will sell, but only at what they consider the “right price”. The figure doing the rounds is at least £70m.

That leaves United staring at another uncomfortable question: how much is potential worth in a market this inflated? Scott is clearly on an upward curve. He fits the Premier League, understands the rhythm of the league, and would arrive without the adaptation doubts that follow imports.

Is that enough to justify £70m when other areas of the squad also need attention? Carrick and Wilcox must decide whether they see a future midfield built around him – or whether they are paying Champions League tax on a player still climbing.

Andrey Santos – the obtainable wildcard

Then there is Andrey Santos, the name that split United’s online fanbase as soon as it emerged over the weekend.

Once billed as a future Selecao star after breaking into the Vasco da Gama first team at 16 back in 2021, his path has not quite followed the script. He joined Chelsea in 2023 but only started to see real minutes last season under Liam Rosenior. He didn’t make Carlo Ancelotti’s World Cup squad, which raised eyebrows given Brazil’s glaring lack of dynamism in midfield.

Supporters see that and hesitate. They want certainty. Santos, at 22, still sits firmly in the “promise” category.

Yet inside football circles, there is a recognition that there is a player there. Enzo Maresca, during his time at Chelsea, believed Santos could flourish as a deep-lying midfielder, using his intelligence and range of passing to dictate from the base.

Crucially, Chelsea are very open to selling. In a window defined by inflated demands and dug-in selling clubs, that matters. He is, by some distance, the most obtainable name on United’s current list.

That alone pushes him towards the front of the queue.

This is the crossroads United now stand at.

Do they stretch their finances for a Bouaddi or a Scott, betting big on upside in a market that punishes mistakes? Do they swallow their pride and meet Brighton’s price for Baleba, rewriting the rulebook they have tried to impose on themselves? Do they pivot to Berge or Santos as cost-effective solutions, accepting that the perfect signing may not exist this summer?

Carrick needs help. The Champions League will not wait, and neither will the Premier League. The question is no longer whether United must move in the market.

It’s who they trust to carry their midfield into a season that could define the next phase of the club’s rebuild.