Manchester United’s summer midfield rebuild just took a hard left turn. The planned move for Atalanta’s Ederson collapsed Thursday after something went wrong during his medical, and now the club is working through a revised shortlist of three names. According to journalist Eduardo Burgos, the targets are AS Roma’s Manu Koné, Bournemouth’s Alex Scott, and Lille’s Ayyoub Bouaddi. The plan is to land two of them.
United had already started softening the blow earlier this week. Andrey Santos is in from Chelsea for £50 million, signing through 2031 with an option for another year. The 22-year-old is expected to be announced any day now. But Santos alone doesn’t fix the math. Casemiro is gone. Manuel Ugarte is out with an injury that sounds like it’ll keep him sidelined for a while. Michael Carrick is working with a thin group in the middle of the park, and the club had planned on three midfield additions this window. That hasn’t changed.
Koné Looks Like the Most Reachable Target
Roma’s Manu Koné seems like the most straightforward option here. He had a strong World Cup, which has pushed his price up, but United has a relationship with the player and the club. Roma is asking for more than they were before that tournament, but the gap is negotiable. Koné fits the profile Carrick wants: a ball-carrier who covers ground and can play alongside a more technical player like Santos or Kobbie Mainoo. Midfield and center-back were the two priorities INEOS set at the start of the summer, and Koné checks a lot of boxes.
Scott and Bouaddi Come With Big Price Tags and Big Questions
Alex Scott is a player United genuinely likes. Bournemouth is insisting he’s not for sale, and they’ve set the price at around £80 million if that stance ever changes. That’s a lot for a player who is talented but not exactly a proven difference-maker at the top level yet. Bouaddi is similar in that sense. Lille wants over £80 million for him too, and there’s a real conversation happening internally about whether he needs another season before jumping to a club of this size. Both players have the talent. Both come with financial and developmental risk.
There’s also the question of whether United circles back on Brighton’s Carlos Baleba. The club looked at him last summer, and while he had a tough season at the Amex, his ability to cover ground out of possession fits what Carrick wants. Baleba might be a cheaper option if the other deals stall, but right now the most realistic path runs through Koné.
The rest of the window is going to tell us a lot about how this front office operates. They’ve got money to spend and clear needs. The question is whether they can get deals done without overpaying for players who aren’t quite there yet.
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