Manchester United are reported to be preparing a substantial midfield overhaul this summer, with the club said to be willing to \u201cgo very big\u201d on central reinforcements. The plan could involve two marquee arrivals and has placed soon-to-be free agent Leon Goretzka firmly on the radar.<\/p>\n
Goretzka spent eight seasons at Bayern Munich after joining on July 1, 2018. Arriving from Schalke as a wiry all-rounder, he bulked up during the COVID-19 hiatus and returned with a markedly different build. The 6’2″ midfielder described himself as \u201cmore self-confident and more robust.\u201d He added: \u201cGoing into full-blooded challenges feeling like that gives me a greater sense of security.\u201d Under Hansi Flick he drove Bayern to the 2019\u201320 Bundesliga title and a Champions League triumph.<\/p>\n
Across his Bayern spell the record shows Joined: July 1, 2018; Games: 292; Goals: 47; Assists: 48; Titles: x6 Bundesliga, x1 Champions League, x2 DFB Pokal, x1 Club World Cup, x1 UEFA Super Cup. Injuries disrupted the following two seasons and, when Thomas Tuchel arrived in 2023, the new coach immediately sought to move him on that summer. Bayern\u2019s board retained him, but reduced playing time followed and that decline cost him a place at the 2024 European Championships held on German soil.<\/p>\n
Vincent Kompany initially shared Tuchel\u2019s lack of faith before reintegrating Goretzka and praising his response: \u201cLeon has always worked hard, he\u2019s always been hungry in training,\u201d and, “It\u2019s a good thing for Leon and the other lads. Leon showed the right reaction: with his feet, not with words.”<\/p>\n
United, despite an upturn under Carrick, still need a central midfield replacement for the outgoing Casemiro. Manuel Ugarte had been the ideal profile but appears not to be the solution. Goretzka\u2019s more front-footed profile would likely complement one of the three midfield targets United have been circling for months: Elliot Anderson, Adam Wharton and Carlos Baleba. Anderson is described as arguably the most complete of the trio, though his dominance may reflect both his talent and his teammates\u2019 limitations, and all three are expected to command substantial fees.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
United plan major midfield additions this summer; Leon Goretzka is a reported possible target this.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":6385,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1083,969,1163],"tags":[216,215,939],"class_list":["post-6386","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-man-utd","category-premier-league","category-transfers","tag-adam-wharton","tag-carlos-baleba","tag-casemiro"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.weplayfpl.com\/news-articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6386","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=6386"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.weplayfpl.com\/news-articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6386\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.weplayfpl.com\/news-articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/6385"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.weplayfpl.com\/news-articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=6386"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.weplayfpl.com\/news-articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=6386"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.weplayfpl.com\/news-articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=6386"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}