Manchester United have identified Nottingham Forest midfielder Elliot Anderson as their leading target for the summer transfer window, according to a report. The club views midfield reinforcements as essential while final transfer plans remain dependent on appointing a permanent manager.<\/p>\n
The Athletic names Anderson as United\u2019s preferred midfield signing and reports suggest money will be available to pursue a significant addition. Anderson is described as an energetic, creative midfielder who operates best from a deeper role, pulling strings and progressing the ball to support attacking players.<\/p>\n
With Bruno Fernandes now restored to his strongest role in attacking midfield, there is competition for the minutes behind him and the possibility that much of the current midfield could change. Casemiro is already confirmed to be leaving when his contract expires, while offers for Manuel Ugarte are likely to be considered. Mason Mount faces an uncertain future after a lengthy battle with injuries. Only academy graduate Kobbie Mainoo appears secure, subject to United addressing his expiring contract.<\/p>\n
A broad midfield rebuild would allow United to adapt their structure and pursue versatile players capable of multiple roles. That approach helps explain the interest in Anderson, whose passing and defensive attributes combine in a role similar to the deeper position Bruno Fernandes was asked to play under Amorim.<\/p>\n
There are two obstacles to a pursuit of Anderson. Forest are expected to demand the best part of \u00a3100 million, possibly more, a fee that would exceed United\u2019s record outlay of \u00a389 million on Paul Pogba in 2016. Even if the funds are found, Anderson\u2019s performances over the past 18 months have attracted interest from several elite Premier League clubs, meaning United would face strong competition for his signature.<\/p>\n
Behind Anderson on United\u2019s midfield list is Carlos Baleba of Brighton & Hove Albion. Baleba was a top target last summer but United declined his reported \u00a3100 million valuation as funds were prioritised for a forward line. He is expected to be priced lower this time.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
United have identified Elliot Anderson as the priority midfield target for the upcoming summer window<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":6535,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1083,1163],"tags":[342,215,939],"class_list":["post-6536","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-man-utd","category-transfers","tag-bruno-fernandes","tag-carlos-baleba","tag-casemiro"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.weplayfpl.com\/news-articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6536","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=6536"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.weplayfpl.com\/news-articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6536\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.weplayfpl.com\/news-articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/6535"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.weplayfpl.com\/news-articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=6536"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.weplayfpl.com\/news-articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=6536"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.weplayfpl.com\/news-articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=6536"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}