The decision not to pursue a new midfield signing both last summer and in January looks like it won’t come back to bite Manchester United on current evidence, with new head coach Michael Carrick seemingly set to steer the club toward European qualification.
It’s fair to say that while the Red Devils certainly needed to invest in forward areas ahead of the current campaign, it was a real risk to plump for all of Benjamin Sesko, Matheus Cunha and Bryan Mbeumo, while overlooking the centre of the park.
Personal terms were believed to have been struck with Brighton and Hove Albion’s Carlos Baleba, although with the fee proving prohibitive, United have bided their time, left thankful for the resurgence and reliability of the ageing Casemiro.
With the Brazilian set to depart this summer and with Bruno Fernandes’ future still up for debate, however, United can’t afford to head into 2026/27 without at least one new midfielder in the building.
£100m sensation now wants to join Man Utd
The midfield department has long been an issue at Old Trafford, ranging from Manuel Ugarte to Donny van de Beek, from Paul Pogba to Morgan Schneiderlin.
Time and again, the Red Devils have splashed the cash, although the post-Sir Alex Ferguson years have been littered by midfield transfer mistakes, hence leaving INEOS in a position where major surgery and investment is needed again this time around.
By all accounts, the club’s focus is on Premier League targets, with the likes of Elliot Anderson, Adam Wharton and the aforementioned Baleba all on the agenda, amid the search for a young, long-term fit.
That said, there are other figures within the division who appear to have piqued United’s interest, with Football Insider’s Keith Wyness reporting that the club have Newcastle United’s Sandro Tonali “in their sights”.
As per the report, the Italian international is likely to be heading out the exit door at the end of the season, with reports in January suggesting his agent had offered him to league leaders Arsenal.
Encouragingly for United, this latest report infers that the 25-year-old – valued at £100m by the Magpies – wants to make the move to Old Trafford, after almost three years on Tyneside.
Why Tonali could be another Roy Keane at Man Utd
There was a time when United’s midfield department was the envy of the Premier League, if not Europe, with Ferguson’s treble-winning side notably boasting the stellar duo of Paul Scholes and Roy Keane in the engine room.
The pair might have sat out that night at the Camp Nou, although Keane, in particular, had dragged Fergie’s men to the final, producing one of the great individual displays of any era in the semi-final in Turin.
In a modern era of sixes, eights and tens, Keane was a jack of all trades, and a master of all of them, the archetypal all-round, box-to-box midfielder.
There is a sense that Tonali is cut from a similar cloth, the type of midfielder who can almost win a game on his own in the centre of the park, having only recently fired home twice in Newcastle’s FA Cup win over Aston Villa.
Athletic, all-action but with an eye for goal, the Italian certainly has that old-fashioned, Keane-style quality to his game, racking up 17 goals and assists in 97 games for his current side to date.
|
Tonali – 24/25 PL stats |
|
|---|---|
|
Stat (*per game) |
Record |
|
Games |
36 |
|
Starts |
28 |
|
Goals |
4 |
|
Assists |
2 |
|
Pass accuracy* |
86% |
|
Key passes* |
0.8 |
|
Big chances created |
4 |
|
Total duels won* |
54% |
|
Tackles & interceptions* |
2.3 |
|
Ball recoveries* |
4.9 |
Formerly of AC Milan and Brescia, Tonali has overcome an early setback at St James’ Park, following his ten-month absence due to a gambling ban, to emerge as a real centre-piece of Eddie Howe’s rampant and relentless Magpies side.
His form over an extended period has even seen Keane’s former teammate, Scholes, suggest earlier in the campaign that he is the best midfielder in the league right now, the Englishman stating that Tonali is “better than” Arsenal’s Declan Rice.
United reaped the rewards of poaching a young Keane from Nottingham Forest back in 1993, with that type of deal potentially set to be repeated if they can land another Premier League-proven talent from a top-flight rival.
Comfortable in a deep-lying role or as an advanced, box-crashing option, Tonali fits the mould as the all-rounder that United are crying out for, with the club having so often chased specificity over quality in recent times.
Keane, in his pomp, was a figure who could do it all, and on the evidence of his time in both England and Italy, so too can Tonali.
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