Despite this summer being inevitably fuelled by World Cup excitement, football fans should not divert all of their attention away from their supported clubs, whose officials will continue to conduct their business as usual behind closed doors. At Manchester United, fans should be preparing themselves for another transfer window full of speculation and rumours, perhaps even more so, with the World Cup generally providing as the ideal setting for new stars to emerge upon.
Although, inevitably, fans will never be too sure on which speculated player will be arriving at their club, United fans do already have some knowledge on the type of player that Jose Mourinho is pursuing. The Portuguese manager has made it no secret that he is after a central midfielder this summer and we at utdreport have shortlisted the three most likely targets.
Fabinho
A name that many United fans will already be accustom to is certainly the defensive midfielder Fabinho, after the Brazilian was extensively linked with a move to Old Trafford last summer, at one point looking almost destined to arrive. Fabinho is certainly a player who would add some extra steel to United’s current midfield three, being a player who excels when it comes to his defensive duties.
Despite Monaco not being able to replicate the spectacular efforts from last season, the French side are still on course to finish a respectable second place, with Fabinho playing a significant role in his side’s campaign yet again. One major pulling factor that Fabinho does further possess, is of course his ability to also play in the right-back position, an area that United are currently rather depleted in. The versatile figure would provide as an efficient acquisition but the Red Devils will reportedly face some stern competition from the French champions themselves in PSG.
Fred
Another Brazilian that has reportedly been on Mourinho’s radar has been Shakhtar Donetsk midfielder, Fred. The explosive and mobile midfielder has been catching the eye of many of Europe’s elite this season, significantly impressing with his performances in the Champions League, with the Ukrainian side surpassing expectations with their group stage qualification.
Fred is a player who has slowly been merging into the limited group of players who can perform as an effective ‘box to box’ midfielder, with the Brazilian excelling in his duties of carrying the ball forward from deep. Despite being the age of 25, he is however still a rather raw product, but is the type of character to potentially flourish under Mourinho, due to his hard work ethic.
Despite some alleged interest over from the blue side of Manchester, the potential deal can be considered a likely one, as Fred will be eager to take the necessary step up in his career, to establish himself as one of Europe’s finest.
Jorginho
Following the official announcement of Micheal Carrick’s retirement, the squad will soon be missing a quality deep laying playmaker and may therefore prompt Mourinho to monitor the services of Napoli’s ever reliant Jorginho.
The Italian is certainly a player recognised for his distributional skills, flourishing as the deeper player in a midfield three under Maurizio Sarri, in which he enjoys to recycle the ball quickly and play out from the back. In a season where Napoli continue to receive their plaudits for their offensive football, at the heart of their structure lies Jorginho, who manages to read the game with such high intelligence.
At the age of just 26, Jorginho is currently considered as one of the most prized midfielders across the whole of Europe and United may face stern competitors to acquire his signature this summer.
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