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Manchester United’s midfield still looks as brittle as seen from the 0-3 thrashing at the hands of Liverpool and Erik ten Hag must find an answer soon if he is to have a job.
Casemiro was overrun in midfield, a continuing theme from last season, and fans are hoping Manuel Ugarte’s acquisition can prove to be spark needed for an upturn in fortunes.
But Ten Hag has already suggested that the Uruguayan needs more time to adapt to his new surroundings.
With Kobbie Mainoo looking like he needs a rest and with Christian Eriksen unlikely to be the answer at this stage of his career, United look short on quality in the middle of the park especially following Scott McTominay’s departure.
Midfielder needed
INEOS had initially hoped to sign more than one midfielder in the summer but a deal for former loanee Sofyan Amrabat failed to materialise despite the manager’s wishes.
The free agent market could provide a stop-gap solution with rumours of a move for Yusuf Yazici and Adrien Rabiot doing the rounds recently.
The Frenchman, in fact, has been a target for the Red Devils ever since Ten Hag took over. However, his wage demands meant a move never materialised.
The 29-year-old’s Juventus contract ended in the summer and despite his services being offered to multiple clubs all across Europe, no concrete bid has been received.
The Peoples Person relayed that Cristiano Ronaldo wants Rabiot to join him at Al Nassr while there is also interest from Turkiye.
Rabiot wants PL move, Galatasaray pushing hard
Galatasaray have offered him a lucrative deal but as per Teamtalk, United’s name cannot be removed from the equation just yet while Newcastle also remain in the mix. However, the player’s wage demands could scupper a potential move.
INEOS had the clear objective to reduce the team’s overall age while also staying away from mercenaries looking for their last pay day, a category of players the Glazers were huge fans of.
“Manchester United and Newcastle remain in the mix to sign a top free agent midfielder despite an offer from Turkish giants Galatasaray already being on the table, sources have told TEAMtalk.
“The Turkish club has already presented an offer to the player who, however, is currently stalling because his desire remains to play in the Premier League.
Rabiot’s demands could scupper a move
“United, after selling Scott McTominay, the bad performance of Casemiro against Liverpool and with Christian Eriksen now on the fringes of the project, have held internal evaluations on a possible new free-agent midfielder.
“However, the possible arrival of Rabiot is complicated by the strategies defined by the INEOS group that would like to progressively exclude players around 30 years of age and with contracts that are too onerous, as Rabiot is asking.”
The former PSG star would certainly be an improvement on Ten Hag’s current options but it is unlikely to occur at this stage.
Hopefully, academy sensation Toby Collyer can bridge the gap while Ugarte can hit the ground running and avoid injuries, something he seems to have done well up to this point.
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