Manchester United already have nine central midfielders in the first-team squad but Erik ten Hag is looking to add another player to the engine room as there could be a summer exodus.
Casemiro, Scott McTominay, Fred, Donny van de Beek, Christian Eriksen, Marcel Sabitzer, Zidane Iqbal, Kobbie Mainoo and Bruno Fernandes are Ten Hag’s current options.
Sabitzer is only on loan and could return to his parent club at the end of the season. Van de Beek and McTominay have also been linked with a departure as they aren’t commanding a starting place.
As for Iqbal and Mainoo, the duo are young and inexperienced, so it remains to be seen if they’ll feature regularly in 2023/24. This means United may need a tried and tested midfielder.
The Red Devils have been linked with Jude Bellingham and Mason Mount among others, but Luis Miguelsanz of Sport says Wolverhampton Wanderers midfielder Ruben Neves is on their radar.
The ‘highly-rated’ 26-year-old is out of contract in 2024 and could be sold early rather than allowed to leave for free next year.
Neves has spent six years at Molineux, making 245 appearances in all competitions since joining from FC Porto, but he could soon be ‘negotiating a transfer’ to United.
The Portuguese international would be second in United’s squad for tackles per game (2.4), second for goals (five), first for interceptions per game (1.5), and first for passes made per game (60.7), and would improve the squad.
Barcelona, Liverpool and Chelsea have been linked with Neves, but it’s still up in the air where he’ll end up next season.
Wolves paid around £16 million for Neves in 2017 but want closer to £70m now. That valuation might drop the closer Neves gets to the end of his contract.
Stats from Transfermarkt and WhoScored
