5 transfers Man Utd can complete this summer as Erik ten Hag targets new centre-back

Manchester United are set to bring in new recruits this transfer window on the back of extending manager Erik ten Hag’s stay at Old Trafford.

While departures are set to be plentiful at United this summer, the arrivals lounge may also be busy as the new hierarchy looks to continue building the club for success.

A bid for Everton’s Jarrad Branthwaite has already been rejected, while French pair Anthony Martial and Raphael Varane have left the club after their contracts expired.

But business is far from finished, with another centre-back tipped to arrive, Branthwaite to be further pursued, and a new name odds-on to join the Red Devils’ forward line.

Matthijs de Ligt

After playing perhaps the best football of his career under Ten Hag at Ajax, De Ligt has fallen out of favour at his current club Bayern Munich and a switch to Old Trafford has been mooted.

A £68million signing from Juventus, De Ligt hasn’t lived up the expectations that surrounded him following Ajax’s run to the Champions League semi-final in 2019.

Scoring in both the quarter-final against eventual club Juventus, and semi-final, where Ajax infamously fell to Tottenham, De Ligt was one of the hottest centre-back prospects on the market.

Failing to settle in Italy meant that the Bayern move could act as a reprieve, but the Dutchman now finds himself behind former Tottenham and England man Eric Dier in the pecking order.

United’s centre-back roster is far from what they’d like it to be at the minute with Varane having departed and both Victor Lindelof and Harry Maguire likely to leave, so it is essential that an elite-level defender arrive to partner Lisandro Martinez.

Reports suggest De Ligt would cost the Red Devils £40million, a far cry from the near-£70million that Everton requested for Branthwaite.

Bayern’s interest in Germany and Leverkusen centre-half Johnathan Tah all but confirms that De Ligt will head for the exit, and United are the most likely suitors.

Manuel Ugarte

With the aging Casemiro creeping towards a potential departure, a holding midfielder is another vacancy that United’s new regime are keen to fill.

The name that is being heavily linked with a move to United is Uruguayan commander Manuel Ugarte, who currently plays for French champions PSG.

Lighting up this year’s Copa America, Ugarte has played almost every minute of Uruguay’s so-far impeccable campaign, attracting interest from Premier League clubs.

Having only left Sporting CP last summer to join Les Parisiens for around £50million, Ugarte fell out of favour with manager Luis Enrique.

A catalyst for the Uruguayan being dropped from the strarting XI was his lacklustre performance against Newcastle in the Champions league – where he was substituted after just 64 minutes.

Chelsea were incredibly close to bringing Ugarte to England last summer, and a deal was agreed, but PSG reportedly offered a better wage packet and the Blues ended up with Brighton’s Moises Caicedo instead.

Now, the holding midfielder looks to potentially be on his way to England again in a move that could see him swap clubs for as little as £35million – £15million less than was paid for services just a year prior.

Ugarte could provide the stability in midfield that United have been craving, but any deal would most likely have to wait until his Copa America is over.

Joshua Zirkzee

Dutch forward Zirkzee was a standout for Bologna in Serie A last season as they unexpectedly secured Champions League football under Thiago Motta.

Having left Feyenoord’s academy for Bayern Munich’s, Zirkzee rose through the ranks after scoring a hat-trick for the Bavarian club’s reserves on his debut.

He made his first team debut against Tottenham in the Champions League in 2019 group stage, and was loaned out to Parma in January 2021.

Injuries scuppered his first loan move, but his second the following season saw him head to Anderlecht in Belgium where he became the club’s top scorer with 15 league goals – 18 in all competitions.

Zirkzee was unable to assert any claim on Bayern’s squad despite the goals, and was shipped out to Bologna in 2022 for as just £7.2million.

He was top scorer for his club again last season, and United now look set to recruit the Dutchman whose contract reportedly has a £34million release clause.

Bologna will be upset to lose their star forward for such a relatively small fee, but United will be glad to hopefully add his goals to a forward line that stuttered at times last season.

With players like Jadon Sancho and Antony linked with moves away, and Martial having already left, a new forward is essential and Zirkzee fits the bill.

Jarrad Branthwaite

A transfer that may turn out to be one of the sagas of the summer, young centre-back Branthwaite has been linked with United for some time now.

Arriving at current club Everton from Carlisle United in 2020, the defender has enjoyed loan spells at Blackburn and PSV Eindhoven before returning to become part of the first-team last season under Sean Dyche.

Branthwaite was nothing short of a revelation for the Toffees, combining his powerful defending with the netting of some crucial goals against Tottenham and Liverpool as they avoided the drop for the second year running.

His performances at Goodsion Park lead to him being called up to Gareth Southgate’s provisional England squad for Euro 2024, and saw him earn his first international cap against Bosnia at Wembley.

With centre-half a desperate need for Man United, Branthwaite made sense, but the valuations that both United and Everton held were vastly different.

An opening bid of just £35million plus add-ons was far below the reported £70million valuation that Everton have placed on the defender, and so the deal has stalled.

With the De Ligt transfer looking like the preferred option, the potential for both defenders to arrive at United still remains a possibility considering the departures that United will sanction.

If Lindelof and Maguire were to leave, this would open up positions within the squad, so there is no writing off the idea that United will sign two premier centre-backs this summer.

Miguel Gutierrez

A lesser known name but another possible arrival, Spanish left-back Gutierrez could be poised to fill a position that United have been desperate for consistency in for some time.

Currently at Spanish side Girona, where he arrived in 2022, the defender aided his side in reaching the Champions League for the first time in their history last season.

His performances drew interest from a range of clubs and it is reported that Liverpool and Arsenal were both interested in the player before he seemingly chose United.

It may not be Girona whose pocket the reported £34million fee will fill if this transfer goes ahead, however, as Gutierrez joined from champions Real Madrid who have a minimal buy-back clause on the defender.

The plan would be that Los Blancos purchase the player back from Girona only to sell him on to the Red Devils.

This isn’t the first time that the player has been linked to United either, as in 2017 former United coach Jose Mourinho was keen on bringing in the defender who eventually decided on remaining in Madrid.

Both Luke Shaw and Tyrell Malacia haven’t been able to string a consistent spell of games together in the position that Gutierrez would fill.

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