United eyeing low-cost midfield signing to complete revamp

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The Peoples Person

15 July 2026

Manchester United

had entered the summer window with plans to revamp their midfield to compensate for the loss of

Casemiro

and the expected sale of Manuel Ugarte.

Before leaving, the Brazilian

recommended INEOS

to sign Ederson from Atalanta, and while the

Red Devils agreed a deal

, the World Cup star ultimately

failed his medical.

It was back to the drawing board for the Old Trafford side, but they pulled off deals for Andrey Santos and Youri Tielemans, with the fees paid for both

pleasing the club’s co-owners

The former Chelsea ace is seen as

Casemiro’s eventual successor

in the Brazilian national team, while the

Belgian

is a proper deep-lying playmaker — a profile United have lacked in recent seasons.

However, they still need that physical specimen to sit in front of the backline, with

Carlos Baleba

, Manu Kone, Aurelien Tchouameni, and Eduardo Camavinga among the marquee names being looked at.

The 20-time English league champions had

planned to move Ugarte on

, and use those funds to sign that third midfielder. But the Uruguayan’s

injury has put paid to those hopes

As a result,

Sky Sports

have now reported that United are unlikely to spend big on their third and final midfield signing, having already utilised close to £85 million to sign Santos and Tielemans.

“Manchester United want to sign a third midfielder this summer in addition to their new signings of Youri Tielemans and Andrey Santos.

“Bournemouth’s Alex Scott and Brighton’s Carlos Baleba continue to be among the long-term targets United have been considering.

“However, Sky Sports News understands any move for a third midfielder is unlikely to be for a large fee, having already secured the signings of Santos and Tielemans for a combined total of around £85m.

“With Manuel Ugarte injured for the foreseeable future with a knee injury and Casemiro’s summer departure, it is a position United remain short in if they are to compete on all fronts with Champions League football back at Old Trafford this season.”

INEOS have pulled off major surprises so far this window, so fans should not rule anything out at this stage.

But it is clear that United need to

focus on player sales

now, with

Marcus Rashford

the

most likely to be sold

this window.

However, in order to fund more arrivals, there could be more than a handful of surprise departures with

Noussair Mazraoui

and

Lisandro Martinez

among the names linked with an exit.

Feature image Stu Forster via Getty Images

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