Chido Obi: Man United starlet can save INEOS a fortune this summer
Chido Obi: Man United starlet can save INEOS a fortune this summer Manchester United are finalising plans for a major overhaul of the first-team squad this summer, with a host of incomings and outgoings expected at Old Trafford regardless of who is in the dugout next season. The focus will be on bolstering a midfield unit that is braced to lose its most important cog, as Casemiro ‘s time in M16 is fast approaching an end. Manuel Ugarte has proven incapable of deputising for the Brazil international, leaving Kobbie Mainoo as the sole option with a long-term future at the club.
Consequently, two new recruits are planned to fix this stalling engine room, with INEOS’ focus on Premier League-proven operators incurring the dreaded tax when shopping in England. Elliot Anderson is the primary target, while Adam Wharton, Sandro Tonali and Carlos Baleba are also high on the radar. All four will cost up to, if not in excess of, £100 million to prise away from their respective clubs.
This one-two punch in midfield will have a knockout blow on United’s war chest this summer, despite a host of other areas of the pitch – goalkeeper, centre-back, left-back and left-wing – also understood to be on the agenda. But an additional centre-forward may be needed, given Benjamin Sesko and Joshua Zirkzee have combined for just 11 goals in the league. The 6’5 Slovenian, still in his maiden campaign in English football, has accounted for nine of these, however, leaving the sinking Dutchman as the Hyde to Sesko’s Jekyll.
Zirkzee has been strongly linked with a return to Serie A, the league where he first rose to prominence, and came close to signing for AS Roma in January. A host of Italian clubs are expected to come knocking for his services again this summer. The plethora of needs in the market and a finite budget that can stretch only so far, even with sales, will force hard choices for INEOS.
A new striker is simply not as urgent as the needs in midfield or on the left-hand side to justify a big-money outlay on one of the recruitment department’s leading targets, such as Bournemouth starlet Eli Junior Kroupi . In previous eras, the Red Devils would use the academy as a source of fresh blood for the senior squad – and this is exactly where the club’s hierarchy should turn to solve their goal-shy striker situation. The Deadly Dane Captured from Arsenal as one of the first signings of the INEOS era in 2024, Chido Obi arrived at Old Trafford with a reputation as one of the country’s most highly rated academy players.
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