Manchester United have been told they could nab the next Moises Caicedo as they look towards replacing Casemiro in the coming months. The Brazil midfielder has six months left on his contract and so far hasn’t put pen to paper on a renewal with the Old Trafford outfit.
Pointing towards long-term United target Carlos Baleba as a potential option, former Chelsea ace John Obi Mikel told the Daily Mail: “I think they do need a midfielder, I think they are talking about Carlos Baleba, the guy from Brighton. Young player, I think he is fantastic, really good player. I think it will help Manchester United in terms of being that player they need, that we have in Caicedo for Chelsea.
“I think they will need that sort of player because, trust me, Casemiro, I respect him, fantastic player. He’s a legend of the game. But sometimes, when your legs are gone, it’s gone. This is the Premier League. You can’t hide it. And you get found out in the Premier League very easily. So for me, I respect Casemiro, but I think Manchester United do need another holding player.”
Brighton ace Baleba was linked with a United move in the summer, but the Reds weren’t able to find enough wriggle room after spending big on the likes of Benjamin Sesko, Bryan Mbeumo and Matheus Cunha. However, Mikel believes United are still some way off competing and has backed them to once again spend big over the coming months.
He continued: “I just think the players at the football club, at some point you have to look at the players and not always the manager. You have to look at the players and look at every individual – who’s the right, the player for this football club? Are they capable enough to represent Manchester United. Or do they need to… they’re in the rebuilding process as well, which is good for the club.
“They’ve brought in a couple of new players, Mbeumo, Cunha – I think these are great players. But I think they need a few more, in the defence, they need to bring in loads of different defenders, I think if they want to start competing to win the league.”
