Manchester United’s midfield has been a source of constant focus for the club’s fanbase for some time. Seemingly since Roy Keane acrimonious exit from Old Trafford in 2005, supporters have long-sinde pined for top quality options in the middle of the park, even during the days in which Owen Hargreaves, Paul Scholes and Michael Carrick were ruling both England and Europe.
These days, United’s options are arguably the strongest that they’ve been in years. Nemanja Matic, Ander Herrera, Paul Pogba and the recently purchased Fred give Jose Mourinho’s team flexibility, creativity and grit, which have all been lacking to some degree in the post-Sir Alex Ferguson era.
Fred’s arrival is timely, with Carrick announcing his retirement at the end of last season and Marouane Fellaini expected to leave the club when his contract expires at the end of this month. But according to reports, United might not be done with this summer’s midfield revamp.
Calciomercato are reporting that United, along with several other European giants are interested in the services of Paris Saint Germain’s Marco Verratti. Barcelona, Real Madrid and Juventus are all believed to have held talks with the player’s agent Mino Raiola, who will be familiar to United fans as the representative of Paul Pogba and Henrikh Mkhitaryan, who now plies his trade at Arsenal.
Verratti currently has a clear summer ahead of him after Italy were beaten by Sweden in their World Cup play-off, and are thus absent from proceedings in Russia. Although the Italian international may be taking special care of himself after new PSG boss Thomas Tuchel was believed to have told the player to lose weight. Such comments might have influenced Verratti’s thinking, and with his current club’s Financial Fair Play issues, perhaps the French club will cash in on an asset guaranteed to generate a substantial amount of cash.
