Man Utd set to re-sign James Garner after being priced out of moves for every other midfield target | OneFootball

Manchester United are being hoisted by their own petard this summer in their bid to sign at least two, preferably three, midfielders, as the Casemiro effect grips the Red Devils in a state of transfer inertia.

They’ve already reached an agreement with Atalanta to sign Ederson for £35m, but with Casemiro leaving at the end of his contract and Manuel Ugarte also on the exit ramp, the INEOS bosses have been scouring the market for midfield additions while being hamstrung be a clear directive handed down by Sir Jim Ratcliffe to not overpay for new signings.

Shortly after becoming United co-owner, Ratcliffe suggested the choice of the players signed by United in the previous few seasons had not always been the most prudent. As an example he pointed to the signing of Casemiro for £60m plus add-ons from Real Madrid in the summer of 2022. The midfielder was 30 years old and was given a four-year contract of about £350,000 a week.

The United hierarchy viewed the £120m package Manchester City offered Nottingham Forest to beat them to the signing of Elliot Anderson this summer as a ‘disgrace’ and that rejected bid has raised the transfer stakes in what has become the summer of midfield transfers in the Premier League after a striker-obsessed 2025.

The Red Devils have since taken significant strides to sign West Ham star Mateus Fernandes. Talks with his representatives have gone well; he wants to move to Old Trafford. But United aren’t willing to stump up the £85m the Hammers want, opening the door for Tottenham.

, Spurs are ready to meet that demand, albeit with around £20m of the fee in add-ons, in what would be a record outlay for the North London club.

What’s more, Fernandes is seemingly just as happy to join Tottenham this summer, as Roberto De Zerbi proves to be a significant transfer draw for new recruits.

That’s forcing United to consider the alternative of the alternative, Alex Scott.

Bournemouth are currently adamant that he is ‘not available for transfer’ as new manager Marco Rose considers him a ‘cornerstone of his new-look side’ and ‘has been particularly emphatic on the subject during internal discussions’.

And even if the Cherries do grant him an exit – if he pushes they’ll be left with little option – his current £70m price tag will be driven up by Arsenal, either for sh*ts and giggles or because they genuinely “really like him”, as The Athletic’s David Ornstein claims.

A report from The Sun on Thursday claimed United also view Brighton’s Carlos Baleba as an ‘attainable target’ having apparently forgotten that the Seagulls slapped a £100m price tag on him last summer and drive a famously hard bargain in all of their player sales. They’ve just sold a centre-back with one year left on his contract for £52m.

United will either have to pay more than they wanted to spend on a midfielder to land one of their top-tier targets or settle for a player or players below that highest bracket. Someone like James Garner.

He was outstanding for Everton this season and came close(ish) to being named in Thomas Tuchel’s England squad for the World Cup after making his international debut in March, while being linked with a return to Old Trafford.

The 25-year-old ‘knows the club’ – they bloody love that – having come up through the Red Devils academy before being sold to the Toffees for £9m.

He’s valued by Transfermarkt at €45m [£39m], but after signing a new four-year contract in January and thanks to the extraordinary midfielder inflation this summer, United can expect to pay around the £60m mark.

A ridiculous price for quite a good midfielder? Absolutely. But if £60m is the upper limit set by Ratcliffe, and United aren’t willing to look beyond the Premier League, Garner’s as good as they’re going to get.