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With Joshua Zirkzee now at United and Matthijs de Ligt all but signed, with the final details to be agreed over the next week, the Red Devils are now seeming to focus their attention on upgrading their midfield, with main targets at the moment being RB Leipzig’s Dani Olmo, PSG’s Manual Ugarte and Benfica’s Joao Neves.
Euro 2024’s joint Golden Boot winner Dani Olmo has been linked to the Red Devils in recent weeks, with the European Championship winner’s €60 million release clause expiring today on the 15th July. Recent reports have suggested that United are the frontrunners for Olmo’s signature, with their rivals Manchester City having pulled out of the race for the Spain international.
Whilst Olmo is more of an attacking midfielder, Manuel Ugarte provides an option for the defensive midfield role, being billed as a perfect replacement for Casemiro. United have been in regular talks with PSG about the Uruguayan international and are confident in being able to bring Ugarte to the Premier League by the end of the summer.
However, previous to setting their sights on Olmo and Ugarte, the Red Devils have been watching Portuguese wonderkid, Joao Neves, who Benfica have valued at £102 million, with United’s more recent offer of €70 million (approximately £60 million) being rejected by the club’s president Rui Costa. Whilst the Red Devils are still interested in Neves, despite PSG being in pole position to sign the 19-year-old, United are now looking at even more options to solidify their midfield.
Their most recent option for the middle of the park comes alot closer to home in the form of Crystal Palace’s Adam Wharton.
CaughtOffside have reported that Wharton’s strong performances at Palace not only got him his call up to the England Euro 2024 squad, despite not making it onto the pitch, but has also attracted the eyes of United scouts.
The 20-year-old came through the Blackburn Rovers youth academy and after two years with the club moved to Crystal Palace for €21.1 million earlier this year.
In the three months Wharton has been at Palace, he’s made 16 appearances with his debut against Brighton being the only game he’s featured off the bench, establishing himself quickly in the starting line ups. With three assists to his name, including a vital one in Palace’s 1-1 draw to Fulham, Wharton is slowly finding his feet in the Premier League, featuring heavily in the squad who defeated both Liverpool and United 1-0 and 4-0 respectively. The latter game gave manager Erik ten Hag his first sighting of the defensive midfielder’s abilities.
It’s unexpected that Palace will be happy to sell the 20-year-old after only buying him earlier in the year, however United may be able to work out a deal which would come in much cheaper than further pursuing Joao Neves.
