Man Utd in contact to sign £100m star

One subplot to England’s World Cup journey is that Thomas Tuchel’s starting midfield – the trio keeping Kobbie Mainoo out of the side – could well have all ended up at Manchester United at some stage or another.

Most recently, United had made Elliot Anderson their leading midfield target for the summer, only to ultimately step out of the race as Manchester City struck an eye-watering £116m deal for the 23-year-old.

That signing has eclipsed Declan Rice‘s prior £105m move to Arsenal back in 2023, the then-West Ham United skipper having long been on the agenda for the Red Devils.

Perhaps most frustratingly, however, was the failure to secure a 17-year-old Jude Bellingham in 2020, the teenager joining Borussia Dortmund instead after the Old Trafford side had rolled out the red carpet for him.

Alas, it wasn’t to be, with the priority now to ensure that further opportunities and openings don’t pass them by in the midfield market.

Man United shifting to alternatives after Mateus Fernandes frustration

It was the summer of the striker a year ago, now it’s all about midfielders, with the Premier League’s elite all shopping for the same position this time around.

Anderson is off to the Etihad, while Arsenal laser in on Bruno Guimaraes. Across north London, free-spending Tottenham Hotspur are close to wrapping up bumper deals for both Sandro Tonali and Mateus Fernandes, the pair set to join for a total sum of around £185m.

Young Fernandes had appeared to be United’s preferred pick, although Jason Wilcox and co were again unwilling to get embroiled in a bidding war, having shifted to other potential market opportunities.

Indeed, as per journalist Mark Critchley – speaking on The Athletic FC Podcast – the Red Devils are in the mix to sign Borussia Dortmund’s Felix Nmecha, a player Wilcox knows well from his prior stint at Manchester City.

According to Critchley, United have already made “contact” regarding a potential deal for the German midfielder, suggesting he is very much a concrete option.

“Felix Nmecha, Borussia Dortmund, is a name that has been put to me. I know that there’s been contact there from United and enquiries made, so that’s a potential one as well, but again, I think asking price on that could be quite steep.”

That asking price could be to the tune of around £100m, a deal that would eclipse United’s current club-record capture of Paul Pogba a decade ago.

Why Nmecha could be like a Rice & Bellingham hybrid

As alluded to above, United have missed chance after chance to lock down their midfield department for the long-term, now left in a position where the squad looks particularly light in the centre of the park, amid Casemiro’s exit and Manuel Ugarte’s cruel injury blow.

Rice and Bellingham, two men driving England’s World Cup run, appeared the type of signings who would have been almost a guarantee during Sir Alex Ferguson’s pomp, a time when the club was truly the dominant domestic force.

There’s no point obsessing over what might have been, however, with the priority now to ensure that INEOS do finally get it right in midfield, with United burning through a string of failed signings, be it Ugarte, Sofyan Amrabat and Donny van de Beek.

Nmecha, once of City, isn’t necessarily the standout name on the market, but he could be a potential star in the making, hailed by Julian Nagelsmann as having the potential to become the “best player in the world in his position“.

It was the German who actually filled Bellingham’s shoes at Dortmund, emerging as such a midfield powerhouse for the Bundesliga side in his box-to-box number eight role.

Like the Real Madrid superstar, Nmecha can be such a threat in and around the opposition box, with the 6 foot 3 midfielder notably curling home for his country in the opening group game against Curacao.

He mirrors Bellingham too in his ability to operate in a variety of midfield roles, be it as a six, an eight or even a number ten, while also boasting the physicality to dominate in that department, ranking in the top 12% of midfielders in Europe’s top five leagues for his aerial duel win rate per 90.

Where he also appears to boast similarities to Rice is in his ball-carrying quality from deep, ranking in the top 7% for deep progressions, as well as in the top 10% for both progressive carries and for productive dribbles per 90.

That has been a feature of Rice’s game too ever since his rise at West Ham, the 27-year-old notably ranking in the top 6% for progressive carries last season, as well as in the top 20% for deep progressions.

Like Nmecha too, he is another powerhouse presence in his roaming number eight, having ranked in the top 3% for aerial duels win rate at Arsenal, as part of the Gunners’ title triumph.

The Dortmund man appears to boast the Bellingham-esque desire to get involved in the final third, yet also mirrors Rice as a progressive force from midfield, thus potentially providing United with a type of talent they haven’t had since Paul Pogba at his best in the recent past.

At that reported £100m figure, Nmecha won’t exactly come cheap, although at some stage this summer, INEOS will have to get the chequebook out.