Manchester United fans have been giving their thoughts on who should line up in Erik ten Hag’s first-choice midfield next season.
The new United boss has made the middle of the park one of his priorities in the transfer window and has already identified two names he wants to add to his options. He could even be close to bringing one of them to Old Trafford.
United are understood to be edging closer to the signing of Frenkie de Jong, who was identified early on by Ten Hag as an ideal addition to his midfield. They're also interested in Christian Eriksen, with the Denmark international available as a free agent.
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As pre-season gets underway at Carrington, the question still remains of who will make up United’s first-choice midfield next season. Fans have been giving their thoughts on the hot topic, and you can still have your say here.
R84: First-choice midfield:
DM - Wilfred Ndidi
CM - Frenkie de Jong
CAM - Donny van de beek
Midfield group: Bruno Fernandes (CAM), Fabian Ruiz (CM), James Garner (CM), Kouadio Kone (DM /CM)
Ndidi can only get better under ETH. A PERFECT defensive midfielder to protect the backline which can allow De jong & Van de Beek to create & control.
Kouadio Kone can develop under ETH.
Apart from midfield, I wish United should try and sign Josko Gvardiol (perfect player for ETH style football who can make a huge difference going forward ). Gvardiol is a versatile player who can play almost everywhere on the field. He can be a CB, LB, LWB, DM, CM, CAM or even a forward.
He is a rare talent. I think United should get this player even if he is an expensive target. He is priceless.
Edcredible: With Van de Beek and Fernandes, we have enough going forward. What we don’t have enough of is quality DM. I fear all those bright names (VdB, Fernandes, De Jong and possibly Eriksen) will have limited time together because ETH will have to use McFred again and again. If we sign one good DM, he will have to play almost every game. I know Man U is waiting for Rice but at what price? Another Europa League season? We need 2 DM at least.
Highking: I think Neves would be ideal for most games, where we can seek to dominate teams with him and De Jong in the middle, although this ability would be enhanced by a central defender like Timber. If I was building the team with a limited budget, I would take De Jong and Neves, and Sangare this season, the latter playing when we play better teams, as it was so obvious it was the midfield who were overrun that caused issues last season.
Add one attacking full-back for some width on right, as we have loads of players on left up front, to add balance to team. As one respondent said, lots of attackers who can come good with good coaching, confidence, and better midfielders feeding them, and defence will benefit too from 3 new midfielders. Garner back up for deeper midfield, McT and Fred as subs mostly for No10 roles until sell next season, 1 or both, playing with maybe 2 attacking midfield, and 2 up front at times, until next season, when buy right-wing, central attacker, and central defender. Left attacking full-back at Xmas. All sorted in 3 windows. It would have been interesting to see Ralf's team!
Dtw: I have genuine concerns about the lack of a midfield engine and our defence. In the last few years it has been far too easy for teams to play through us and generally overrun our midfield. FDJ will add some much-needed composure, but the defence also needs greater protection.
McFred are decent squad players but a talented DM is needed. Our CB situation is also a problem - Varane is unreliable due to historic injury issues, Maguire is having an existential crisis of confidence and the rest are not good enough. I actually believe we have a talented group of attackers (who need effective coaching to extract their best) with Elanga, Rashford, Sancho, Fernandes, Ronaldo, Martial (not to mention VDB) as well as some talented supporting youth - Mebri, Shoretire, Garnacho etc.
TopRedDevil10: FDJ is going to need Sangare next to him as they would complement each other. Frenkie would be the finesse player and fulcrum in attack with Sangare shielding the back when United doesn’t have possession, and is capable of moving the ball forward unlike McFred over the past few seasons. Have Garner be the backup 6 and give Mejbri a shot as both are young and can surpass McFred.
MadMonk: I would still expect a defensive midfield addition to the group before the season starts, unless one of the existing group (Fred, McTominay, Garner) makes massive strides in picking up those responsibilities on the training field and pre-season games. Hopefully the ‘first-choice’ midfield is more flexible than just the same three names every time and depends on how it fits in with the attack, form, and the opposition. De Jong is the only one of the group who would stand out as an absolute first choice, and in an ideal world, one or more of the group becomes expendable to raise funds for the defensive midfielder or to strengthen other positions.
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