Manchester United slung themselves back into the win column with a hard-fought, turnaround win at Selhurst Park on Sunday afternoon.
When Crystal Palace took the lead through Jean-Philippe Mateta’s first-half penalty, there was a sense that Ruben Amorim’s squad would struggle to find the spirit to fight back. But, credit to the manager, his principles and the deepening tactical understanding led to goals from Joshua Zirkzee and Mason Mount after the interval.
United are eighth in the Premier League after 13 matches, yet trail second-place neighbours Manchester City by only four points.
This is an imperfect and imbalanced team, but one whose potential is starting to be realised. However, Amorim needs to add to his squad depth, for sure, if he is to shape his side into proper contenders.
Man United looking to add depth
Man United have a team filled with quality, but it’s not an expansive pool of talent, and it would be remiss to suggest there aren’t any stragglers.
In midfield, something hasn’t felt quite right from the get-go in Amorim’s system, and now Jason Wilcox and co must look to bring in some new quality.
Well, according to the Mirror’s John Cross, Man United are looking to take advantage of Federico Valverde’s contractual stalemate at Real Madrid and bring him to Old Trafford in 2026.
Los Blancos view their versatile midfielder at £100m, whereas United believe his price tag falls into the £70m ballpark.
With the 27-year-old’s future at Xabi Alonso’s outfit in doubt, this could be the perfect opportunity for INEOS to swoop in and seal a coveted signature.
What Fede Valverde would offer Man United
There’s no question that Casemiro has proved Sky Sports pundit Jamie Carragher wrong after his infamous rant, but the 33-year-old is surely approaching the twilight of his Premier League career.
With Kobbie Mainoo’s future at the Theatre of Dreams uncertain, United could do a lot worse than packaging their engine room with a player like Valverde who has “world-class technical ability”, as said by journalist Fentuo Tahiru Fentuo.
The Uruguay international splits his time between the centre of the pitch and a right-back berth, and he is immense in both roles. As per FBref, he actually ranks among the top 11% of positional peers for pass completion, the top 19% for progressive carries and the top 20% for successful take-ons per 90.
He is not an anchor, but in La Liga this term, he has won 58% of his duels and averaged 1.6 tackles per game (data via Sofascore), and he is unquestionably among the most physical and tenacious profiles in Spanish football.
Central midfield
282
19 + 27
Right-back
56
2 + 8
Right wing
33
11 + 4
Defensive midfield
15
1 + 0
Attacking midfield
14
1 + 0
Left-back
7
0 + 0
Centre-back
1
0 + 0
Valverde might not be an out-and-out defensive midfielder, but his completeness and dynamism in the centre of the park suggest he could be the perfect partner for a more mobile playmaker beside him.
That’s not to say Valverde isn’t an elite distributor, though, and he might come to be an incredible asset to pair up with a tough-tackling and single-minded number six.
Casemiro has been a dutiful and underrated part of Amorim’s project this season, but he is out of contract at the end of the term and lacking his typical combativeness – this season in the Premier League, he has won just 54% of his ground battles.
Valverde has the range and breadth to be a significant upgrade for a Man United side that just need a few on-the-money additions to become real contenders once again.
Imagine him & Mbeumo: Man Utd submit bid to sign "unbelievable" £53m winger
Man United and INEOS are already preparing a winter bid to strengthen Amorim’s team.
ByAngus Sinclair