Man Utd Told They Should Have Signed Midfielder Who Is “Like Roy Keane and Bryan Robson”
Man Utd legend Gary Pallister believes that his former team could have signed a midfielder with similar traits to club icons Roy Keane and Bryan Robson if they had pursued Adam Wharton this summer.
The Red Devils ultimately recruited three other players to reinforce the middle of the park – Carlos Baleba, Andrey Santos and Youri Tielemans
However, speaking to Betarades.gr, Pallister said that United should have considered Wharton, who he believes will end up at a “big club eventually”:
“Wharton is not afraid of hard work, first and foremost. When you look at players, hunger would be the first thing you are looking for. The desire to do the hard work and not only the pretty stuff.”
“I was very fortunate to play with players like Roy Keane and Bryan Robson, and they were incredible at doing just that. They were both going forward and back. They were doing the hard work and that’s what I am seeing in Adam Wharton as well.”
“I am not saying he is not a good passer, because he is, and he is very clever with the ball. He is not one-dimensional, and he has a creative side to his game as well.”
“He ticks a lot of boxes. It looks like Elliot Anderson is slightly ahead of him for England at the moment, but I still think Wharton is an exciting prospect and he will end up in a big club eventually.”
Man Utd would have had to blow the budget on Wharton
Several other teams, including Manchester City and Liverpool, reportedly considered moves for the 22-year-old, but his asking price was believed to be around the £100m mark.
Michael Carrick’s side spent £155m on the three midfielders they purchased, so if they had decided to go after Wharton, they would not have been able to bring in as many additions as they ultimately did.
Could a move be made for Wharton in the future?
Another factor that reportedly steered the club away from making a bid for the England international is that some in the recruitment team felt he was too similar to Kobbie Mainoo.
For that reason, the chances of Wharton being snapped up in a future transfer window look rather slim, unless Mainoo falls out of favour.