Whitwell reveals Man Utd budget for third midfield deal as ‘premium’ move questioned

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14 July 2026

Laurie Whitwell has suggested

Manchester United

want to sign three midfielders for the cost of

Elliot Anderson

this summer, with the capture of a ‘premium’ target looking uncertain.

Man Utd

walked away from negotiations for Anderson after being quoted well over £100million by Nottingham Forest. Reports tipped Anderson to cost £125m, but Manchester City eventually managed to capture him for £116m.

The England star is not the only midfielder United have lost out on this summer, as Tottenham Hotspur beat them to the £85m signing of Mateus Fernandes.

United went on to agree a £38m deal with Atalanta for Ederson, but they were forced to scrap that transfer as he failed his medical.

The Red Devils have instead signed Andrey Santos from Chelsea for £48m plus £2m in bonuses. Youri Tielemans will follow Santos to Old Trafford as United have triggered his £35m exit clause at Aston Villa.

Both Whitwell and David Ornstein have confirmed United plan to build on those moves by landing a third midfielder for Michael Carrick.

On the

Talk of the Devils

podcast

, Whitwell explained how INEOS want to sign Santos, Tielemans and another midfielder for the same price as Anderson – £116m. That leaves them with £31m to land their next target.

“With Tielemans and Santos through the door, they feel like deals that have been done for okay prices,” the journalist said.

“If they get a third midfielder in, do they all come to the

fee? That’s probably what

are looking at.”

Whitwell added that United aim to sign a ‘premium midfielder’ next, with potential options including Aurelien Tchouameni (Real Madrid), Carlos Baleba (Brighton) and Ayyoub Bouaddi (Lille). However, there is no chance they will get one of those players for just £31m.

“You’re looking for that premium midfielder,” Whitwell added.

“It doesn’t feel like anything is happening with [Adam] Wharton, there was scepticism that [Crystal] Palace would accept nothing less than a huge fee for him and are using the Anderson price as a gauge. Internally, it doesn’t feel like that one is warm.

“It felt like a lot of work was being done previously for Baleba. That’s gone quiet. Whether that’s Brighton demanding a high fee or not, that’s maybe one you wait and see on. Maybe things change when deadline is approaching.”

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