Man Utd boss Erik ten Hag no longer wants to sign Barcelona midfielder Frenkie de Jong and has a new target in his sights, according to reports.
The Red Devils made five new signings in the summer to kick off the INEOS era with Joshua Zirkzee, Leny Yoro, Matthijs de Ligt, Noussair Mazraoui and Manuel Ugarte joining.
Ugarte should strengthen their defensive midfield but there s still a feeling that can improve a lot in the centre of the pitch, despite recent improved performances with Christian Eriksen starting their last three games.
Eriksen is likely to leave at the end of the current season, Casemiro has come in for plenty of criticism, while Bruno Fernandes has been described as wasteful so far this term.
Kobbie Mainoo and Toby Collyer could well be the future of the Man Utd midfield but both are still young and progressing, and the Red Devils will look to sign a new midfielder in one of the next couple of transfer windows.
And now reports in Spain claim that Man Utd are still on the hunt for an elite midfielder to bolster their squad, and after ruling out .
The Red Devils now have a new bombshell target in the form of Inter Milan midfielder Nicolo Barella with Ten Hag convinced that Barella is the ideal man to lead United s midfield .
Man Utd are already preparing an ambitious offer for the Italy international with talk of a figure close to 75 million euros (£63m) for his signing, in addition to a salary of 10 million euros (£8.3m) per season, in the hope of attracting the Italian to Old Trafford.
Inter are not willing to let their star go without a fight but the temptation of playing in the Premier League , one of the most competitive leagues in the world, and becoming a key player for Manchester United could be a decisive factor for Barella.
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Ten Hag warned expanded schedules are making injuries almost unavoidable for overloaded players as Man Utd prepare for their opener in the new-look Europa League on Wednesday night.
The format I think we have to take this experience and then judge, Ten Hag said. But one thing is for sure, I think every match is significant and probably every goal is significant.
First you get a split after January when the first eight teams qualify (directly to the last 16) and that can help you in February to continue.
But when you are in the first 24 you can win this competition, so there’s always an option to win it.
The second part of it we discuss so many times. There are too many games. It’s clear. Too many competitions.
For the top players, they are overloaded and this is not good for football. In the end of the day it’s maybe good for commercial but there is a limit.
It’s almost unavoidable that players get injured because of the overload from so many games.
