Manchester United began their pre-season with a goalless draw against Leeds United in Sweden, a performance that left head coach Ruben Amorim concerned about the team’s midfield dynamism. Amorim highlighted a “lack of pace” in central midfield as a key issue, noting the difficulty in advancing the ball forward.<\/p>\n
As the summer transfer window remains open, United have a chance to strengthen their midfield, potentially enhancing Amorim’s two-man system greatly. Here are five midfielders who could bolster the Red Devils’ engine room next season.<\/p>\n
Carlos Baleba<\/strong> has emerged from Brighton & Hove Albion as a strong defensive midfielder with an impressive Premier League showing despite his youth. The 21-year-old Cameroon international ranked in the top 20% of Premier League midfielders for tackles in the final third, interceptions, and ball recoveries last season. Beyond his aggressive ball-winning skills, Baleba is an adept distributor with excellent close control and notable acceleration, completing 57.9% of his take-ons.<\/p>\n Adam Wharton<\/strong> has made a significant impact at Crystal Palace, quickly becoming a creative force and an England international. The 21-year-old midfielder excels in advanced passing, averaging over seven progressive passes and more than five passes into the final third per 90 minutes last season. While he still needs to improve defensively, his attacking creativity and vision could pair well with United\u2019s younger midfielders.<\/p>\n \u00c9derson<\/strong> of Atalanta rose in prominence through his all-action style, helping the club secure the Europa League. The Brazilian’s defensive tenacity pairs with technical prowess; he ranked in the top nine percent for progressive passes per 90 in the Champions League and in the top eleven percent for carries into the final third. His physicality and agility make him a compelling candidate for the rigors of the Premier League.<\/p>\n Morten Hjulmand<\/strong>, a former Sporting CP player coached by Amorim, has been influential for his team with seven goals and five assists over two seasons. At 26, the Denmark international combines physical strength with quick feet, a solid defensive presence, and excellent distribution skills. Hjulmand\u2019s box-to-box qualities and familiarity with Amorim\u2019s style could translate well to United.<\/p>\n Jo\u00e3o Gomes<\/strong> from Wolverhampton Wanderers is known for his relentless ball recovery and defensive work rate. The Brazilian midfielder excels in duels and tactical fouling, providing a combative presence in midfield. His partnership with fellow compatriots at Wolves suggests he would integrate effectively with United\u2019s existing midfield options.<\/p>\n These five midfielders represent varied but complementary skill sets that could address United\u2019s midfield challenges highlighted by Amorim, offering fresh energy and tactical versatility for the upcoming season.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Manchester United targets five midfield talents to boost pace and creativity following Amorim’s critique.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":526,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[179],"tags":[216,215,218,59,214,217],"class_list":["post-527","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-manchester-united","tag-adam-wharton","tag-carlos-baleba","tag-ederson","tag-featured","tag-joao-gomes","tag-morten-hjulmand"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.weplayfpl.com\/news-articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/527","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=527"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.weplayfpl.com\/news-articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/527\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.weplayfpl.com\/news-articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/526"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.weplayfpl.com\/news-articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=527"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.weplayfpl.com\/news-articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=527"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.weplayfpl.com\/news-articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=527"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}