Man United must shop outside the Premier League to fix their midfield

Van de Beek set the club back £40 million, while Ugarte – comfortably the worst recruit of the INEOS era – cost in excess of £50m once add-on fees are included in the deal agreed with Paris Saint-Germain two years ago. It’s little wonder, therefore, why United’s hierarchy are prioritising targets with experience in England to overhaul their stalling engine room this summer, with Casemiro set to depart at the end of the season and Ugarte increasingly likely to join the Brazilian through the exit door at Old Trafford. Despite turning 34 last month, Casemiro has enjoyed a resurgence under Michael Carrick, who took the reins in the wake of Ruben Amorim’s bombshell dismissal in January.

United have enjoyed a transformation in form with the former midfielder at the helm, winning seven, drawing two, and losing just once in ten games. They sit third in the table, now the strong favourites to secure Champions League football next season. Deployed next to Kobbie Mainoo at the base of a double pivot in a 4-2-3-1, Casemiro is making a stronger case to remain at the club than even he could have dreamed, fully refuting the notion that the “football has left him”.

While United remain steadfast in their decision not to trigger the one-year extension in his contract – the most expensive at the club – the former Real Madrid star’s form has reinforced the importance of sourcing the correct player to be his successor. Casemiro once described the midfield as the “heartbeat of a football team” – and INEOS risk crippling the side if they are unable to properly replace him, as they did by targeting Ugarte in 2024. But the executive branch cannot be myopic in their focus in doing so; to simply disregard options outside of England because of failings in the past would be as grave a mistake, just in reverse.

The two best teams of the last decade are the Red Devils’ bitter rivals, Liverpool and Manchester City. Both clubs have enjoyed almost unparalleled success in their recent histories, built upon the foundation of midfielders signed from outside the Premier League, be it Fernandinho and Rodri at the Etihad, or Fabinho and Ryan Gravenberch at Anfield. The economic advantage English teams now hold over their European counterparts – the driving force behind the ill-advised creation of the Super League – means the ‘Premier League tax’ applies to virtually every player from every side on these shores.