23 May 2026 15:19:34
Hi Eds. A lot of midfielders are being linked with Man United - Anderson, Scott, Fernandes, Wharton, Ederson, Tchouameni. Is it true that Ederson is almost done deal and is there a number one target apart from him?
{Ed001's Note - he is the number one target.}
23 May 2026 21:22:33
Thanks.
24 May 2026 12:53:35
From what I've heard United are approaching transfers very differently under INEOS.
Previously, we would solely focus on one transfer until its conclusion (signed or not), before moving on to start negotiations with other options.
Under INEOS, we supposedly have a list of potential targets for each position, and we are negotiating simultaneously with their agents to make sure that we know what needs to be done to get that signing across the line if we want to pull the trigger.
This effectively gets deals lined up for multiple targets, meaning we can quickly pivot between them if we need/want to change our priorities.
We saw this last summer with deals agreed with the agents of both Semenyo and Mbeumo, meaning when the Semenyo deal became too difficult/expensive to deal with Bournemouth, we quickly moved to Mbeumo and signed him instead.
We did the same with Delap and Sesko, but that deal took a little longer to get over the line, as RB Leipzig were harder to negotiate with and we didn't have a third choice option to quickly pivot to, so had to work that deal through.
We have supposedly done the same this year with midfield, with the club effectively having deals lined up for players like Anderson, Ederson and Baleba. They were also exploring potential deals with Tchouameni (only recently it became clear that he could leave Real Madrid). Fernandes and Scott are other ones that the club became more interested in as the season wore on, and they were showing that they were kicking on.
We want to sign a minimum of 2 midfielders, and Ederson is seen as potentially the easiest deal to get over the line, and would be fairly cheap given the context of the current market, which might mean he is the first deal we get across the line. Also, signing him early puts us in a stronger negotiating position for players like Anderson, Baleba, and Tchouameni, who will all be expensive and harder to get over the line.