Fabrizio Romano weighs in on Manchester United’s third midfielder search, insisting that Manu Kone remains the top target.
Due to Casemiro’s departure and Manuel Ugarte’s ACL tear, Michael Carrick was left with only one available central midfielder for next season in Kobbie Mainoo.
Earlier this month, INEOS recruited Andrey Santos from Chelsea and Youri Tielemans from Aston Villa, but they still need one more midfielder to complete the department.
Man United snub Baleba & Danilo as work on signing Manu Kone
While some sources within the English media continue to link Man Utd with Aurelien Tchouameni, Fabrizio Romano didn’t even mention the Real Madrid stalwart in the latest update posted on his official YouTube channel.
The Italian journalist instead discussed three names that have been circulating in the media.
The first is Botafogo’s Danilo, who has been tipped to return to the Premier League this summer. While Romano confirms that the Brazilian has been offered to United, he doesn’t believe the club is interested in his services.
The same goes for Carlos Baleba, who would be ‘super keen’ to join MUFC. The Cameroonian’s was the club’s top candidate last summer, but the situation has drastically changed since. The 22-year-old is coming off an underwhelming campaign, while Brighton’s asking price remains relatively high.
Therefore, Baleba isn’t considered a priority for Man Utd, at least not at this stage. On the contrary, the transfer market guru identifies Kone as the ultimate top target.
Romano believes Man Utd have opened talks with the 25-year-old’s entourage in the hopes of finding an agreement on personal terms, but have yet to contact Roma.
Why is Kone Man Utd’s favourite target?
In recent weeks, David Ornstein argued that Man Utd’s midfield still lacks an energetic midfielder capable of covering the ground.
This sentiment is probably shared with people inside the club, so United are believed to be searching for a box-to-box midfielder, and at this moment in time, it is difficult to find a more suitable candidate than Kone.
The 25-year-old had two solid campaigns at Roma after his transfer from Borussia Monchengladbach in 2024, followed by a highly impressive World Cup. Therefore, Patrick Vieira hailed Kone as the best midfielder in his country.
“He (Kone) had a really good season in Serie A with Roma. He came to the World Cup after a couple of injuries,” said the former Arsenal captain during an appearance on ITV (via Football Italia).
“He is for me today the best midfielder in France. I’d put him ahead of Tchouameni and Rabiot, because he has this mobility, he is aggressive, he is a ball-winner, and he has the technical ability to be part of the build-up, has the facility with the ball to break lines and move forward.”
While Roma’s exact asking price remains unknown, sources speculate Kone would cost around €60 million (or £51 million).
Michel is a football journalist based in Beirut who has been passionately following Man United for over 20 years. He is a Law graduate and a member of the Beirut Bar Association. In addition to writing for Utd Report, he is also the Head Writer for The Laziali has been a Featured Writer on other websites including Juve FC, and The Cult of Calcio, and Stretty News.
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