Man United begin the 2025/2026 Premier League campaign against Arsenal at Old Trafford on Sunday afternoon.
Mikel Arteta with Ruben Amorim.(Image: 2025 The Arsenal Football Club Plc)
Manchester United have strengthened Ruben Amorim's squad in the summer transfer window, but there is an area that hasn't been addressed ahead of the opening game of the season against Arsenal.
You don't win any prizes for guessing it's the midfield. United have signed a striker, two forwards for the No.10 roles and a left-back, but have not secured a fresh face for the engine room.
That has the potential to be problematic and immediately exposed against Arsenal, who have two of the Premier League's finest midfielders, Declan Rice and Martin Odegaard, alongside new addition Martín Zubimendi.
There is positivity at Old Trafford ahead of the new campaign and United deserve huge credit for their business so far, but it's impossible to shake a feeling that they need a new midfielder through the door.
Amorim plays with two midfielders in the pivot and his current options have not complemented each other as was hoped. Bruno Fernandes has been used in the pivot, but is playing Fernandes alongside Manuel Ugarte, Kobbie Mainoo or Casemiro a sustainable option to secure results?
It says a lot about Ugarte that United already need a new player of his ilk, just 12 months after signing him from Paris Saint-Germain. Ugarte's performances have been mixed and he hasn't truly nailed down the role.
Ugarte was signed for €50million (£42.3m), with a further €10m (£8.5m) in add-ons, which represented a significant outlay, but United are planning to invest in his position again.
Brighton midfielder Carlos Baleba is on the club's radar but he wouldn't be cheap. Brighton value Baleba at around £100million and they have planned to keep the 21-year-old for another year.
United are expected to test Brighton's stance on the midfielder, but Tony Bloom's outfit are famously good at negotiating and have a strong track record of selling for huge transfer fees.
Carlos Baleba in action for Brighton.
Carlos Baleba is being linked with a switch to Man Utd.
United will not be enthused about Brighton's valuation of Baleba, but they might be forced to the negotiating table after facing Arsenal this weekend, depending on how the game unfolds at Old Trafford.
Arsenal have quality in the centre of the pitch and will be hopeful of winning the midfield battle. And as a result, that could highlight and emphasise how much United need to sign a new midfielder this summer.
The same thing essentially happened after the first two games of the 2022/2023 season. United lost 2-1 to Brighton and were hammered 4-0 by Brentford, which forced them into action in the transfer market.
The midfield was ruthlessly exploited in those games and Casemiro arrived to provide defensive cover. United are very unlikely to have such a bad start this season, but Arsenal could highlight the chasm with midfield options.
Amorim would obviously prefer to secure a victory rather than to oversee the kind of defeat that would send a message to the board about needing to sign a new midfielder, though.
The atmosphere at Old Trafford will be tremendous on the opening day of the campaign against a historic rival, which means United might be spurred to a victory, even with doubts about their midfield.
However, Amorim needs a new midfielder to be successful this season and he appeared to warn that he needs a new signing when he spoke after the final pre-season friendly last weekend.
Speaking to MUTV, Amorim said: "I think it was a perfect game for preparation to show us we need to improve in different areas that we are going to struggle in some moments. But sometimes we have players who can make a play and elevate the stadium."
It felt obvious that Amorim was referring to the midfield with that answer.