Manchester United are set for a busy summer of transfer activity as Jose Mourinho looks to overhaul the squad in order to compete for both the Premier League and Champions League next season.
The boss will be looking to bring in a left-back to replace Ashley Young, who turns 33 over the summer and isn’t an out-and-out defender. Jose may also want to bring in another centre-back as Victor Lindelof has failed to settle in following his big summer move from Benfica last summer.
We can also expect to sign a central midfielder or two as Michael Carrick is retiring and Marouane Fellaini appears set to leave on a free transfer when his contract expires over the summer.
According to the Daily Mail, we are in discussions to sign both Shakhtar Donetsk midfielder Fred and fellow central midfielder Sergej Milinkovic-Savic from Lazio.
The newspaper believes that Fred would set us back around £50 million and Milinkovic-Savic in the region of £80 million.
Since Jose Mourinho switched to a 4-3-3 formation following the arrival of Alexis Sanchez in January Nemanja Matic has been the only regular in the middle of the park. Paul Pogba has been in and out of the starting lineup whilst Ander Herrera and Scott McTominay have split time. Marouane Fellaini and Jesse Lingard have also played central roles occasionally recently.
There is no doubt that the signing of either Fred or Sergej Milinkovic-Savic could be a big upgrade to our options in midfield, whilst a double swoop would make a huge statement of ambition heading into next season.
Both players are having an excellent season at their current clubs, though Shakhtar Donetsk are the biggest club in the Ukrainian Premier League, a league that isn’t full of top teams. Whether he can step up to the Premier League, who knows- but he’s shown he’s capable of playing in the Champions League this season, so that’s a positive start.
Milinkovic-Savic has been a key part of the Lazio side that currently holds a four-point lead over Internazionale with three games to go as they look to seal Champions League football for next season. In 32 Serie A appearances (30 starts) he has scored 11 goals and set up three more for teammates in the number 10 role.
