Manchester United’s summer shopping list keeps getting longer and more expensive by the day.
The club was hoping to land Mateus Fernandes from West Ham. Seemed straightforward enough. West Ham got relegated. Fernandes wanted to play with his idol Bruno Fernandes. INEOS figured they could talk the price down from that £80 million asking price.
Then Tottenham showed up. Spurs are apparently fine paying the full £80 million and offering bigger wages. So now United is scrambling.
Their fallback option was Bournemouth’s Alex Scott. The 22-year-old midfielder has two years left on his deal and has been dragging his feet on signing an extension. That alone usually forces a club’s hand a little. But the math has changed.
City’s Spending Is Rippling Through the Market
Remember when Elliot Anderson moved to Manchester City for £116 million? That was the record-breaking deal that made everyone in the league sit up and pay attention. Bournemouth sure did.
According to The Sun, the Cherries are now looking to negotiate a new contract with Scott and are raising their asking price because of what Anderson just fetched. The logic is pretty simple: if a comparable midfielder is worth nine figures, why sell yours for £60 million?
There was talk earlier about a £75 million release clause being added to Scott’s new deal. That number is probably getting thrown out the window now. Bournemouth has all the leverage here. Scott’s under contract for two more years. United needs a midfielder. City just proved the market has no ceiling.
Scott’s been on United’s radar for a while. He’s Premier League proven, young, and English. That checks a lot of boxes for a club trying to rebuild under INEOS. But the price keeps climbing every time another team spends big.
The big question is whether United doubles down on Fernandes and tries to outbid Tottenham, or pivots hard to Scott and hopes Bournemouth comes back to reality. Neither option looks cheap. Neither looks easy.
What’s clear is that one club’s reckless spending spree is making life harder for everyone else trying to do business this summer. City doesn’t care about market inflation. They just buy what they want. And everybody else gets to deal with the fallout.
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