Man Utd will “decide very soon” on their summer midfield signings as they look to bring in a top-class partner for Kobbie Mainoo, according to Fabrizio Romano.
The Red Devils spent over £200m on new signings last summer but they concentrated their efforts on bringing in new attacking players, with Matheus Cunha, Benjamin Sesko and Bryan Mbeumo all arriving.
That has paid off with Man Utd scoring many more goals than last term – but there were some unhappy supporters in the summer after the Red Devils failed to bring in any new midfielders.
It was seen as an obvious position to improve with Man Utd making tentative enquiries for both Brighton’s Carlos Baleba and England international Conor Gallagher.
Neither move materialised and now Man Utd are allocating a huge chunk of their summer budget to bringing in at least two new midfielders this summer.
Baleba, Nottingham Forest’s Elliot Anderson – who is a top target for Man City – and Newcastle’s Sandro Tonali have been among the names linked with a move to Old Trafford – but Romano has revealed that Atalanta’s Ederson could now be a cheaper alternative to all those three.
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Romano said on his YouTube channel: “Man United also like Sandro Tonali, he’s another name they have on the shortlist.
“Ederson from Atlanta could be a backup option in the list of Manchester United, available for €40-45m. So there is plenty of names, but Man United will very soon decide. And again, don’t forget Carlos Baleba, who has been on the list of Man United since summer 2025, and I think could still be an interesting name to follow for this transfer window.”
Ederson has been described as the ‘strongest defensive midfielder in the world’ but Arsenal title winner Perry Groves insists Crystal Palace’s Adam Wharton would be the best pick for Man Utd this summer.
‘Wharton would be a great partner for Mainoo at Man Utd’
Groves said on talkSPORT: “I know I’ve waxed lyrical about him before but you watch Adam Wharton play and he’s like a Rolls Royce of a player.
“He looks like he’s never sprinting. He just sort of jogs about but he’s always in the right position.
“His awareness in the game is unreal. He’s got like the owl’s head where he can like play players passes or around him where he can go into Jean-Philippe Mateta or into Ismaila Sarr.
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“If you’re Manchester United and they have said, obviously, Casemiro is going, he’s got to be on your radar to go and play in that centre midfield role with Kobbie Mainoo.”
When asked why he was recommending Wharton, Groves added: “Because Man United are looking for a central midfield player and to be fair they’re playing the right players in the right positions now, which Mike Bassett – Ruben Amorim – was never ever doing.
“But when you’re playing in that centre midfield in the modern-day game you’ve got to be athletic which Adam Wharton is and you’ve got to have vision and you’ve got to be very calm and composed which he is.
“You’re going to mention that if you go, obviously, it’s a bigger shirt. So I personally I think if you’re the coaching staff and the recruitment you’ll be looking at probably Adam Wharton and Elliot Anderson from Nottingham Forest to fill that midfield.
“Not a bad choice really.”
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