It was a concern Manchester United were unable to address last summer but, with Erik ten Hag at the helm, new central midfielders are understood to be on the way. Frenkie de Jong and Christian Eriksen are the top targets and moves to sign those world-famous playmakers are progressing.
Ole Gunnar Solskjaer wanted to sign a specialist holder 12 months ago. However, while the club did sanction high-profile swoops for Jadon Sancho, Raphael Varane and Cristiano Ronaldo, there was not enough left in their budget to strengthen in the engine room and it proved costly throughout the campaign.
Fred and Scott McTominay were the regular pivot with Bruno Fernandes operating as number 10. Those three had Nemanja Matic and Paul Pogba for competition, but those two have now departed Old Trafford along with veteran Spanish favourite Juan Mata and Jesse Lingard.
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That leaves Ten Hag with another problem to solve this summer. United and Barcelona are confident that a deal to sign De Jong will be concluded soon, while free agent Eriksen is also on the radar after his short-term contract with Brentford came to an end.
Ten Hag can call upon a man he knows well - the rarely used Donny van de Beek - after his return from a loan spell at Everton and England U21s starlet James Garner is also back in the mix. He played a key role as Nottingham Forest won promotion back into the Premier League.
As thing stand, key figures in the boardroom are yet to target a holding midfielder as such, but should De Jong and Eriksen sign on the dotted line Ten Hag would have seven options; Fred, McTominay, Garner, Van de Beek, De Jong, Eriksen and Portugal sensation Fernandes.
It will be interesting to see how the Dutchman fits those players into his system and all eyes will be on pre-season to see which way he goes with his preferred midfield trio.
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