Man Utd facing major roadblock in race for classy midfielder as club legend pinpoints two other targets | OneFootball

Manchester United legend Bryan Robson believes his old club will are likely to come up against a brick wall if they pursue a deal for a top Premier League midfielder this summer, with moves for two other targets more likely to produce a positive outcome.

After completely revamping their forward line last summer, with the arrivals of Matheus Cunha, Bryan Mbeumo and Benjamin Sesko, it’s the club’s engine room that is expected to be the main focus in the upcoming transfer window.

With Brazilian veteran Casemiro moving on and Manuel Ugarte also tipped to leave, Man Utd are expected to sign at one new central midfielder, potentially even two, as they look for a new partner for a rejuvenated Kobbie Mainoo.

The Old Trafford are known to have drawn up a shortlist that includes the likes of Elliot Anderson, Adam Wharton, Carlos Baleba and Sandro Tonali. However, Robson feels that trying to convince Newcastle to part company with the latter will be almost impossible to pull off, despite any lingering PSR concerns the St James’ Park outfit may still have.

Indeed, the 69-year-old feels United have a better chance of landing Manchester City target Anderson or Wharton, who continues to be heavily linked with Liverpool, instead, with both players firmly on the club’s radar.

“There’s always quality players up there [in the north east] and you just hope that when your scouts see these players, you actually capture them,” Robson told the Talk Of The Devils podcast.

“Anderson is one that will definitely be on the chart and Adam Wharton down at Crystal Palace.

“The thing is, you can have the people who you want to bring into your club but sometimes the transfer fee is going to be massive, or the clubs just don’t want to sell.”

As for the Tonali links, Robson added: “I look at Tonali at Newcastle and we’ve been linked with him quite a bit at United.

“A club like Newcastle with loads of money, they get full houses, they get 60,000 every game, do they really want to lose a player like that? Because then they’ve got to replace him, a bit like Bruno Fernandes with us.”

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Robson applauds Mainoo turnaround

One area of United’s midfield which has seen a turnaround is the reintroduction of Mainoo from out of the cold by interim boss Michael Carrick.

The England international was largely frozen out by Ruben Amorim before being recalled to the set-up during Darren Fletcher’s short tenure before Carrick then took over.

And Robson feels that the experience and assured presence of Casemiro in Carrick’s midfield has been key to Mainoo finding his feet again for United.

“I just look back at the FA Cup final against Manchester City and Kobbie was outstanding in that game,” the ex-United and England captain said.

“For it to be a big game and playing against class players, I thought he managed it really well and you’re thinking he’s going to kick on the next year with the confidence that he could from that.

“Unfortunately, all that year, he was injured quite a bit and he just lost the edge off his game. Amorim didn’t really trust him in that central midfield but then Michael Carrick came in.

“He’s got great ability and he looks fit again. In the first couple of games, he just didn’t quite have that sharpness of playing week in, week out, but then they left him in there for a long run and all of a sudden, Kobbie came through and he was back to really good form.

“I think the experience of Casemiro helped him a lot. He can be a top player but if Casemiro does leave then I feel we’ve still got to maybe sign a couple of players in that central midfield to have the balance of the squad, especially if we go into the Champions League.”

Mainoo’s resurgence has also led to the club ‘verbally agreeing’ a new Old Trafford deal for the 21-year-old, following on from Harry Maguire extending his stay after both players had been tipped to leave before Carrick’s appointment as interim manager.