Manchester United entered the summer transfer window expecting to prioritise midfield reinforcements, but Ruben Amorim diverted resources to strengthen an underperforming attack. That decision left the club without a new central midfielder before the deadline. Amorim has relied on Bruno Fernandes and Casemiro operating together at the start of 2025\u201326, and the arrangement has so far held up. With Casemiro\u2019s contract expiring next summer, the club will almost certainly revisit midfield recruitment in January.<\/p>\n
Here are six realistic targets United might investigate.<\/p>\n
Conor Gallagher moved to Atl\u00e9tico Madrid in 2024 and produced a solid debut season, making 19 La Liga starts and earning public praise from Diego Simeone, who said Gallagher “bring a lot to us” during an impressive run. The summer additions of Alex Baena, Giacomo Raspadori and Thiago Almada increased competition, and Gallagher has been limited to four starts across La Liga and the Champions League. Reports link him with a return to England via a possible loan to Manchester United.<\/p>\n
Angelo Stiller attracts attention for his passing. FBRef data shows Stiller ranks in the 96th percentile with 84.87 passes attempted per 90 minutes and the 98th percentile with 9.74 progressive passes per 90. United already have a leading distributor in Fernandes, and Stiller\u2019s defensive limitations and physical profile present risks when covering transitions.<\/p>\n
\u00c9derson\u2019s stock has dipped slightly over the past year, yet he enjoyed another fine season in 2024\u201325 for Atalanta. He offers versatility and work rate and could be a short-term upgrade on Manuel Ugarte if United cannot secure a long-term midfield signing.<\/p>\n
Lucien Agoum\u00e9 impressed in La Liga after leaving Inter in 2024. He is a strong athlete who excels defensively and profiles as a potential long-term successor to Casemiro.<\/p>\n
Carlos Baleba remains of interest, though Brighton demanded as much as \u00a3104 million before 2025\u201326. Baleba covers ground and can unlock defences, but price will dictate United\u2019s interest.<\/p>\n
Adam Wharton and Elliot Anderson appear realistically unattainable without large fees. Anderson\u2019s all-round qualities and leadership stand out as the kind of addition that would materially improve United\u2019s midfield.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Man Utd eye six midfield options for January as Amorim assesses short-term and long-term solutions. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":4417,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1083,1163],"tags":[216,215,572],"class_list":["post-4418","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-man-utd","category-transfers","tag-adam-wharton","tag-carlos-baleba","tag-conor-gallagher"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.weplayfpl.com\/news-articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4418","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.weplayfpl.com\/news-articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.weplayfpl.com\/news-articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.weplayfpl.com\/news-articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.weplayfpl.com\/news-articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4418"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.weplayfpl.com\/news-articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4418\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.weplayfpl.com\/news-articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/4417"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.weplayfpl.com\/news-articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4418"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.weplayfpl.com\/news-articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4418"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.weplayfpl.com\/news-articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4418"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}