£201m of new forwards – now Man Utd look to solve midfield issue

Manchester United’s agreement to sign RB Leipzig striker Benjamin Sesko for £74m will take their summer spending on their forward line past £200m, but now the question is ‘who is going to play in midfield?’

Head coach Ruben Amorim was determined to massively increase his side’s goal output having scored just 44 times in the league last season, their worst return since being relegated in 1973-74.

Sesko will be the third attacking arrival this summer after Matheus Cunha and Bryan Mbeumo, but centre midfield remains an issue for United, with a question mark or two around each of the candidates to play one of those two positions.

And that has led to the club quietly trying to establish what the terms would be to sign Cameroon midfielder Carlos Baleba from Brighton.

Firstly, the non-negotiables.

Amorim’s system involves two deeper midfield players, wing-backs who push high up the pitch, two inside forwards and a striker.

It is assumed Sesko will be the striker, with Matheus Cunha playing behind him on the left and Bryan Mbeumo on the right.

That would mean skipper Bruno Fernandes taking on one of the deeper midfield roles.

Now, Fernandes is many things but a box-to-box midfielder is not one of them.

Fernandes likes to roam. He likes to get on the ball. He likes to find pockets of space to take a pass.

But the 30-year-old Portugal international is not someone you would rely on being alert to danger. He is not someone who is going to make a 10-yard run in anticipation of closing down space.

This seems to be a problem even if it was something Amorim dismissed when I asked him on the specific point about his midfield in Chicago a couple of weeks ago.

“Bruno runs a lot,” he said. “Maybe in the sprint he’s a different player, but he runs a lot. He has a lot of endurance. He’s smart. So it’s not about that. Bruno’s physicality is not the concern. He’s ready for the physicality, playing deep or as a midfielder.”

If that was accurate, why would United be making discreet inquiries on Baleba?

The nearest Amorim has is Manuel Ugarte but the Uruguay midfielder is yet to show he is worth the £50.8m United paid Paris St-Germain for him.

Ugarte remaining on the bench throughout last May’s Europa League final defeat by Tottenham told its own story on the 24-year-old’s form.

In Atlanta on Sunday, Ugarte was carrying the ball out of his penalty area when he was tackled and lost possession. Everton switfly countered and Idrissa Gueye equalised. That is Ugarte’s flaw, he doesn’t see danger and allows himself to be challenged in areas of huge danger for his team.

Casemiro is far less likely to do that. The Brazilian has all the experience and nous Amorim needs. He was favoured to play alongside Fernandes in Bilbao.

However, it has been established at 33, Casemiro can no longer get about the pitch as he used to do – and whether he had to do much running in his prime is debatable given he played in a midfield with Luka Modric and Toni Kroos, who were not exactly wasteful in possession.

United do have Kobbie Mainoo. But when he was talking about his squad in the United States recently, Amorim compared the England international’s qualities to those of Fernandes. Mainoo’s forte is finding space and threatening the opposition goal.

It is noteworthy that in the Euro 2024 final, when Mainoo started, he did so in one of the midfield slots in the same formation Amorim deploys. But the man alongside him was Declan Rice, who is one of the best deep midfield players in the world.

If there is no-one inside the club who can do the job, United have to bring someone in.

However, while it is accepted they could sign Sesko without selling anyone given the next Profit and Sustainability deadline is not until 30 June 2026, United do need to start getting rid of unwanted players – and more signings mean more exits are required.

Alejandro Garnacho, Antony, Jadon Sancho and Tyrell Malacia are part of the unwanted “bomb squad” who are training alone as the search goes on to find them clubs.

Argentine forward Garnacho is in talks with Chelsea about a move to the London club.

Offloading them all is not straight forward and it is expected that most of those deals will be concluded nearer the September 1 deadline.

And that means United may need to wait for that next signing.

It all brings us back to Baleba. Brighton have made it known they would want a huge fee for the 21-year-old, along the lines of the £115m Chelsea had to commit to sign Moises Caicedo in 2022.

It is not easy to see how United could hit those kinds of figures this summer without more members of Amorim’s squad being sold.