David Ornstein has weighed in on Manchester United’s rumoured approach for Manu Kone.
The Red Devils have seemingly been convinced by his standout World Cup performances that he’d be a suitable addition to Michael Carrick’s new-look midfield.
INEOS set sights on Manu Kone
In the last week, United have finalised the arrivals of Andrey Santos from Chelsea and Youri Tielemans from Aston Villa, which cost a combined £83 million.
AS Roma are said to value Kone in the region of £43m, so he would fit better in United’s budget than alternative targets such as Alex Scott or Carlos Baleba.
In line with that, Roma manager Gian Piero Gasperini has already opened the door to Kone’s potential sale in order to stay in line with the Financial Fair Play restrictions.
The 25-year-old made five appearances at the World Cup with France, four of which were from the off.
Surprisingly, he was left out of Didier Deschamps’ XI for their semi-final clash with Spain on Tuesday night, despite overseeing a stellar display for their win over Morocco.
Manu Kone’s game by numbers vs. Morocco:
96% pass accuracy
9 carries
3 duels contested
3 duels won
2 fouls won
1 chance created
1 progressive carryReally impressive. 🔝 pic.twitter.com/5lnoNlrJpw
— Statman Dave (@StatmanDave) July 9, 2026
He was eventually introduced after the interval in place of Adrien Rabiot, who was on a yellow card, but was unable to prevent Les Bleus falling to a 2-0 defeat to the Euro winners.
What did Ornstein have to say about Kone?
Reacting to the speculation between United and Kone, Ornstein said: “A lot of reports suggest that Manchester United are looking at him, and I think that would be excellent. Honestly, for a club like Man United…
“I doubt they’ll be the only club in the frame, either. But in terms of his box-to-box capabilities, the legs, the technical precision, and intelligence. Yeah, he’s got a lot of development still, but he’s at a really high level.
“It’s, from what we hear, a great market opportunity, the value that you could get him from Roma.”
A lot of reports suggest that Manchester United are looking at him, and I think that would be excellent.
“It's, from what we hear, a great market opportunity, the value that you could get him from Roma.”
France’s Manu Kone was one of the World Cup’s breakout stars – and… pic.twitter.com/xi1fA5gZJE
— The Athletic | Football (@TheAthleticFC) July 15, 2026
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