Rio Ferdinand has revealed his ideal pick out of Manchester United midfield targets Elliot Anderson, Sandro Tonali and Bruno Guimaraes.
Casemiro will leave Man Utd on a free transfer when his contract expires in the summer, while Manuel Ugarte is also expected to depart. We confirmed on Monday that Galatasaray are pushing hard to land Ugarte.
United have long needed midfield recruits, and INEOS finally look set to address this issue ahead of next season.
Nottingham Forest star Anderson is United’s No 1 target, while they are also considering other options such as Tonali, Guimaraes, Adam Wharton and Carlos Baleba.
On his YouTube channel, former United star Ferdinand explained why he wants to see Anderson move to Old Trafford.
“Guimaraes and Tonali wouldn’t be my first-choice midfield signings this summer,” he said.
“It’s Elliot Anderson. His age, he’s 23 years old… Guimaraes is 28 and Tonali is 25, soon to be 26, so that counts for a lot for me. I want young, hungry players in my squad.
“He complements [Kobbie] Mainoo. I think Mainoo is going to be one of the main players in the team now, they’re going to build around him, and I think Elliot Anderson absolutely complements him.”
Discussing Anderson and Mainoo’s potential partnership, Ferdinand continued: “They’re different. Anderson has that ability, that energy to get around the park, he’s aggressive. We need those legs.
“And he wins the ball. He’s more combative than the other two.
“Elliot Anderson is the only player to win over 150 duels, win possession more than 150 times, and win at least 50 fouls in the Premier League, the whole Premier League I must add, this season. They’re my reasons why, guys.”
Rivals Manchester City are confident about signing Anderson, with the race heating up.
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Man Utd prefer Anderson to Tonali
We revealed on April 1 that United feel signing Anderson or Wharton would be better value than Tonali.
Anderson, Tonali and Guimaraes are all rated in the £100m bracket, while Wharton is valued at around £70m.
It emerged earlier on Tuesday that United ‘remain seriously in the race’ for Anderson, despite City’s attempts to snare him first.
The Red Devils are in the market for two midfielders, and they will need to save money following a big outlay on Anderson, Wharton or Tonali.
This is where an award-winning star comes in, and the deal could be masterminded by United director of football, Jason Wilcox.
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