Archie Brown emerges as a physical, high-scoring alternative for the Premier League giants as Newcastle’s steep valuation of Lewis Hall forces recruitment teams to look toward Turkey.
Manchester United's current midfield situation
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With the World Cup over and Manchester United's pre-season campaign underway, the main focus will be on filling the remaining gaps in the squad.
So far, the club have focused on the midfield rebuild with the signings of Andrey Santos for £48 million plus £2 million in add-ons from Chelsea and the £35 million signing of Youri Tielemans from Aston Villa.
As well as these two, the club brought in Karl Darlow on a free transfer from Leeds United to fill the role of back-up goalkeeper, with Altay Bayindir's future up in the air.
Another midfielder is still on the agenda, but it is no surprise to see the club linked to other areas such as full-back.
Lewis Hall has been the main link at left-back for the Red Devils, and it is easy to see why. Not only is he brilliant going forward and defensively, but with his age, he could be United's and even England's future left-back for the next decade.
However, the main sticking point could be the fee, as the Magpies have no reason to sell and United may be reluctant to splash the cash on someone who is not a direct Casemiro replacement.
It is no surprise to see Michael Carrick's side exploring alternatives. According to TEAMtalk, United and Chelsea have Archie Brown from Fenerbahce on their list as an alternative to Hall.
The 24-year-old Englishman came through the Derby County academy before spending most of his career abroad. First with Laussane-Sport who are under the INEOS umbrella of clubs, before making his name with Gent in Belgium and now in Turkey.
The Turkish giants remain keen on keeping the attacking full-back, as evidenced by their rejection of an approach from Nottingham Forest earlier this summer.
Going for Brown is a very intriguing option for the club as he is one of the rare English players who has very little experience in any of the English teams.
At 6'3 he is a deceptively quick and physical player, which helps him as he is predominantly an overlapping wing-back. Last season, in all competitions, he recorded five goals and seven assists.
Valued at £10 milliion on Transfermarkt, you would expect him to go for between £15 and £25 million. What also makes this option interesting is his experience at Laussane. You would expect that his profile is one the team at INEOS would have kept tabs on, and the established relationship could make agreeing terms easier.
That being said, Hall is the obvious choice you would go for, and maybe even Antoinee Robinson is a better profile for now. But given the past links with INEOS, do not count Brown out as a definite option.