United's midfield woes (2025 version)

Bastian

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For my money, I don't think we've had a decent midfield since Ole's first few months when he he played 433 and played Ander, Matic and Pogba together. Mind, that was a very brief period. Before that it was probably quite a bit before SAF retired. In the last 5-6 years under SAF the one standout midfielder was Carrick, Scholes was getting on and Hargreaves obviously had a nightmare with injuries.

Over the last couple of seasons I've been waiting for us to field a backline that can actually push high up and have the recovery pace to defend vast spaces, and I still think we are that defender short (I'd like someone in between Yoro and Heaven) but it seems Amorim is quite keen on Maguire for now. This does tactically limit us and slows our build up play massively.

Another factor is the lack of physicality (strength, mobility, pace) and technical proficiency (composure, technique, passing range) in the middle. Bruno of course has great technique, but he's such a maverick that having him drop deep is never a good idea. Ugarte is a lot less technically sound than I expected for the money we paid. Mainoo seems to be more a final third player, not least because he just doesn't have that physique to go into combat against a standard premier league midfield, bar that one performance away at Liverpool.

Yes, we need a new GK and we need a striker not allergic to scoring goals, but how many years are we going to neglect having a functioning midfield?

If we sell Bruno and Garnacho we are creating enormous PSR space and getting in quite a bit of money. We're not in shopping in the top tier, but there are players out there currently not being linked to sides better positioned, such as Wharton at Palace, and Baleba at Brighton (I keep banging on about them).

We're not heavily linked to any midfielders but we did have that offer for Fermin Lopez a while back and there are some rumours around that we might try to get him in a swap deal for Marcus. We've also been linked with Atalanta's Ederson, who looks the part physically, but is he technically of the required standard?

Which attainable midfielders are out there that could be part of a new first XI?
 
I think Baleba is brilliant. I imagine Brighton would want insane money though.

I remember the day Chelsea brought Caicedo, I checked who Brighton were linked with and joked on here that we should hijack the deal. Turns out it was true.
 
It depends on our standards and financial constraints.

Nunes from City I suggested might be a shout as Pep isn't crazy on him so could be available for a reasonable price - he's played under Amorim, has premier league experience and has the right physical attributes - pace, running etc.

However I can understand if we're ultimately trying to overtake City, signing their cast offs might be unappealing to some.

If we sell Bruno it might be possible to splash out on Wharton if he was available for 70, 80m type fee - though it wouldn't surprise me if Palace demand 100+m like Rice/Caicedo/Enzo in which case it's a non-starer.
 
I think we could buy two 100m midfielders if we can sell Bruno and Garnacho for 150m. Saudi pay in cash, and we'd spread payments over 3-4-5 years. Granted, it would take a huge chunk out of future budgets, but you can't really get a squad build of the ground without a midfield that works. Going all in for two first XI midfielders would be a huge step in the right direction, Ugarte demoted to squad option, if we keep Mainoo he might be cover both central midfield and attacking midfield.
 
Bastian said:
I think we could buy two 100m midfielders if we can sell Bruno and Garnacho for 150m. Saudi pay in cash, and we'd spread payments over 3-4-5 years. Granted, it would take a huge chunk out of future budgets, but you can't really get a squad build of the ground without a midfield that works. Going all in for two first XI midfielders would be a huge step in the right direction, Ugarte demoted to squad option, if we keep Mainoo he might be cover both central midfield and attacking midfield.
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Who do you think is worthy of that process tag and available to us at the same time?
 
Personally, If we did sell Bruno for £100 million, I would go all-out to buy both Wharton and Ederson. Those two in midfield with Chuna and Mbeumo as 10's, as we already seem to be chasing, and we would be looking a lot better next season. If Obi blossoms (2 goals today) during the pre-season and we can add a quality goalkeeper and RWB, I think we're contenders by season after next, with a few tweaks and a full season playing together.
 
Red the Bear said:
Who do you think is worthy of that process tag and available to us at the same time?
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Wharton and Baleba from the Premier League. I don't know too much about Ederson, but there are links to both him and Lopez.
 
This is the real never-ending story. How a club the size of Manchester United has operated with such a weak spine for nigh on two decades now is beyond comprehension. At what point do we finally decide to enter the 21st century and sign players capable of controlling matches.
 
Bastian said:
Wharton and Baleba from the Premier League. I don't know too much about Ederson, but there are links to both him and Lopez.
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I agree. Best to get PL proven unless it is an incredible talent. We should stack up our midfield with quality, how can you play well with crap in the middle
 
OverratedOpinion said:
I think Baleba is brilliant. I imagine Brighton would want insane money though.

I remember the day Chelsea brought Caicedo, I checked who Brighton were linked with and joked on here that we should hijack the deal. Turns out it was true.
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If we were able to spend the Bruno-money on Baleba and/or Wharton that would justify a sale in my opinion.
 
I think signing at least one midfielder is more important than signing a striker, to be honest — ideally two. We need someone who can dictate games and help our centre-backs move the ball forward. Having this type of player will also allow Bruno to return to his best position. Right now, we’re a dysfunctional team. A good striker might help us win more games, but we’d still be dysfunctional. Transforming the midfield is what will truly change us.
 
Would love us to sign Wharton, he is class, but he will be almost as costly as whatever we get for for Bruno. Can’t see us spending it all on one player, neither should we in my opinion.
Same goes for Baleba for that matter.

I would like to see us go for e.g. Ederson and Hackney. They will both bring improved physicality, passing and progressive play to our central midfield; while still having some remaining funds to increase our budget for the other positions.
 
Catalandevil said:
I think signing at least one midfielder is more important than signing a striker, to be honest — ideally two. We need someone who can dictate games and help our centre-backs move the ball forward. Having this type of player will also allow Bruno to return to his best position. Right now, we’re a dysfunctional team. A good striker might help us win more games, but we’d still be dysfunctional. Transforming the midfield is what will truly change us.
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I hope the club is not thinking like you. Our most urgent issue is a striker. Not a midfielder. Even with games we control we do not score goals. Look at the last 10 games we played. Specifically the games we controlled we lost including the final.
 
Big Ron’s Coat said:
This is the real never-ending story. How a club the size of Manchester United has operated with such a weak spine for nigh on two decades now is beyond comprehension. At what point do we finally decide to enter the 21st century and sign players capable of controlling matches.
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I know right? It’s ridiculous how we haven’t had a functioning midfield for this bloody long.
 
OverratedOpinion said:
I think Baleba is brilliant. I imagine Brighton would want insane money though.

I remember the day Chelsea brought Caicedo, I checked who Brighton were linked with and joked on here that we should hijack the deal. Turns out it was true.
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Baleba and Wharton sorts out the midfield for a long time.

Can't believe Uniteds midfield has been so crap for so long. What kind of club is this.
 
I think we should buy Hjulmand and Ederson for 100. They are the budget Wharton and Baleba in the style they play. One a pure 6 and one a defensive box to box high energy midfielder. Its who Case and Ugarte should be. We can then upgrade later for elite midfielders when we have cash but they will still be really good for the squad. Plus they form good midfield duos. If we play Mainoo, Bruno, Mount then Hjulmand would be a good partner to just sit in front of the back 4 and protect like Case does now but with more legs. If we are not that fearful of the opposition we can play Ederson + Mainoo, Bruno, Mount. If we are up for a tough midfield battle then Ederson/Ugarte + Hjulmand.
We have all the the ingredients for a good double pivot. Obviously Wharton and Baleba would be nice but it aint gonna happen.
 
We need passing range. And not Bruno as he's not a deep midfielder.

A passer would compliment Ugarte who is not as bad on the ball as people say. He just has zero passing range.
 
I think Amrabat is the only high volume passer/controlling mid we've signed in 15 years, and he was nowhere near it quality-wise.
 
Wharton and Ederson would be perfect candidates for how Amorim sets up. But no chance we get them both in a window.
 
With a two in midfield, there’s every chance we also end up selling Mainoo as well as Bruno. I’ve read two reports today suggesting that we are open to offers for him.

I like Baleba a lot, but I said in a thread on him months back that I’d probably prefer to see exactly what we have in Sekou Koné before spending 100m on 20 year old Baleba. This is how you will always end up with the Chelsea Caicedo but never the Brighton one. They are of similar profiles, and not too dissimilar in age. This is what led us to spend 75m to add Sancho on top of Greenwood on top of Amad - all to play RW despite all being within about 18 months of each other in terms of age. A bit of patience would have saved us a lot of money.
 
dubplate warrior said:
Baleba and Wharton sorts out the midfield for a long time.

Can't believe Uniteds midfield has been so crap for so long. What kind of club is this.
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I just haven't seen that much of Wharton, I watched palace a few times last season but it may have been when he was still injured.

Is he more of a passer or a all action type?
 
V.O. said:
I think Amrabat is the only high volume passer/controlling mid we've signed in 15 years, and he was nowhere near it quality-wise.
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Yeah I think not having a midfielder to dictate the tempo for us like Carrick could has been a huge miss for a long time.

Matic did it for us at times but not in quite the same way.

I was desperate for us to sign a player like that rather than Ugarte in the summer.
 
Bastian said:
Wharton and Baleba from the Premier League. I don't know too much about Ederson, but there are links to both him and Lopez.
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Wharton and Baleba would be a fantastic midfield pairing, problem is it would probably cost us close to 200m to get them.
 


I'm camped in this thread until we get linked to guys like Baleba and Wharton. Or similar players from the continent.
 
Teja said:


I'm camped in this thread until we get linked to guys like Baleba and Wharton. Or similar players from the continent.
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Ederson
Stiller would have been good but he is going to Madrid
Apparently Lamine Camara is good
 
We've needed a quality DM since Carrick. We had Matic and Casemiro who were quality for about 6 months and that's it. Unfortunately, it doesn't look like Ugarte is that player.

DM has been are number one need for a decade...until we bought Hojlund and then striker became our number one need. Such a well run club.
 
Last summer we signed Ugarte because he would unlock Mainoo. Wilcox was the main driver here allegedly against ETHs wishes.

This makes me worry alot.

We did need a new midfielder who can give Mainoo a platform but both Ugarte and Mainoo suck at passing the football. Yes I said it Mainoo sucks at passing for a midfielder. He is good at short to mid range passing but does not really progress the ball much through his passing, does not switch play etc

Ugarte also sucks at passing so what the feck was Wilcox thinking about when he thought Ugarte would platform Mainoo who did they (along with ETH) think was going to progress the ball in the midfield? Or did they just think it was not necessary and the CBs would do it?

If so why the feck did they sign De Ligt who is not adept at progressing the ball from the back through his passing?

Wilcox is at the center of our rebuild and last summer is an extremely worrying indication that he may not actually know how to construct a midfield.
 
Mainoo and Kone have big potential and are useful options. Ugarte is a good option for certain games and rotation. We have been missing a very good technical midfielder forever - get one.
 
Cassidy said:
Mainoo sucks at passing for a midfielder. He is good at short to mid range passing but does not really progress the ball much through his passing, does not switch play etc
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I hate to agree, but I agree. His skillset is so narrow for a midfielder and I really worry about how good he actually can be. What he's good at he's very good at though and I'd love it if he stepped up a level next season. But in this setup I can't see it.
 
Drizzle said:
I hate to agree, but I agree. His skillset is so narrow for a midfielder and I really worry about how good he actually can be. What he's good at he's very good at though and I'd love it if he stepped up a level next season. But in this setup I can't see it.
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He is young and can improve his passing in my opinion.
 
Cassidy said:
Last summer we signed Ugarte because he would unlock Mainoo. Wilcox was the main driver here allegedly against ETHs wishes.

This makes me worry alot.

We did need a new midfielder who can give Mainoo a platform but both Ugarte and Mainoo suck at passing the football. Yes I said it Mainoo sucks at passing for a midfielder. He is good at short to mid range passing but does not really progress the ball much through his passing, does not switch play etc

Ugarte also sucks at passing so what the feck was Wilcox thinking about when he thought Ugarte would platform Mainoo who did they (along with ETH) think was going to progress the ball in the midfield? Or did they just think it was not necessary and the CBs would do it?

If so why the feck did they sign De Ligt who is not adept at progressing the ball from the back through his passing?

Wilcox is at the center of our rebuild and last summer is an extremely worrying indication that he may not actually know how to construct a midfield.
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Yes. That is a huge concern. And we massively overspent on him too. The whole window is a concern besides Mazraoui who is a great purchase for the fee paid. De Ligt I really like, but he's not like you said, a player who progresses the ball and he can't really defend a high line with that lack of pace. Zirkzee was a pointless acquisition. I hope they don't think they did a great job. I'd rather have the money spent during that summer than the players. And that goes for every single summer post SAF, but they were supposed to be different. Was Vivell already appointed when we signed off on all those deals?
 
Chelsea spent a fortune on Enzo and Caiceido. We sell Bruno and Garnacho, why couldn't we do the same and buy Wharton and Baleba ? Or similar. It would be instantly transformative to our team.
 
dinostar77 said:
Chelsea spent a fortune on Enzo and Caiceido. We sell Bruno and Garnacho, why couldn't we do the same and buy Wharton and Baleba ? Or similar. It would be instantly transformative to our team.
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We probably could do it. We probably won’t do it
 
I know people love to patronise those who hoped Bruno would take the money, but it obviously requires his whole family to be willing to actually live in Saudi which is a huge ask. Anyhow, we weren't really linked heavily with midfielders before, and now it's almost impossible to imagine we'll sign two.

I see people mention Kone at Reims and Nmecha at Dortmund. Dortmund are obviously piss takers when they make offers for players and demand enormous amounts when they sell theirs, so it's tricky. With these two, are the technically good enough and do they have a passing range that means we're not just doing the same tactic of looking for Bruno every single time? I consider Ugarte to have neither the technique, nor the passing range, but unlike these two and Ederson, he doesn't really have the physique either.

We could do worse than sign Baleba and see what happens with Bruno this season (if he can actually handle being a consistent cm).
 
In this system - it's about the CBs in my opinion. Need better passers in there to create more risk for pressing teams - as it stands if you are an opposition coach what worries you if Martinez is injured? He was the only one who could consistently pass with enough speed and on a lower trajectory to trouble teams. You press the WBs, you press the CM pair, you entice someone like Maguire, Maz or De Ligt forward and create huge gaps in our back line which we don't have the pace to recover from. Our midfield tends to have to play it's way through a press with one less person, it's no wonder Bruno/Ugarte lose the ball so much.

As it stands there's no real jeopardy for teams to commit numbers forwards against us. Cunha helps this a lot, as he will take the ball into feet in central areas and turn on a sixpence, but we need people to feed him.
 
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