Manchester United’s midfielder search is not over. The captures of Youri Tielemans and Andrey Santos have gone some way to strengthening an area of the pitch left in skeletal form following the recent departure of Casemiro and Manuel Ugarte’s long-term injury.But while Tielemans and Santos have brought with them from Aston Villa and Chelsea, respectively, an ability to control games with passing, with the Belgian in particular noted for his forward-thinking vision, a defensive-minded replacement for Casemiro is yet to be found.United need a destructive player to complement and balance the existing skillsets. With four senior midfielders, plus extra support from the likes of emerging talents Jack and Tyler Fletcher, manager Michael Carrick should have sufficient resources for the 2026–27 season.While Manchester City threw £116 million ($155 million) at Nottingham Forest for Elliot Anderson, and Tottenham Hotspur spent a combined £185 million ($246.5 million) on Matheus Fernandes and Sandro Tonali, United aren’t expected to hit the premium end of the market.The Red Devils have a number of options to go at in just under six weeks until the transfer window closes. All are reportedly priced between £25 million and £51 million.7. Eduardo CamavingaEduardo Camavinga wants to prove himself at Real Madrid. | Dennis Agyeman/Europa Press/Getty ImagesIf Eduardo Camavinga ends up at Old Trafford it’s because he’s been persuaded to give up on a Real Madrid career he began the summer desperate to cling to. That’s not always a good thing, as United found out more than a decade ago with Ángel Di María. If a player ideally wants to be somewhere else, it’s probably best to just leave them to it.That Camavinga comes in at the more expensive end of the scale, valued at around £51 million ($68 million), per The Guardian, which makes it tough to justify, even if his age—he turns 24 in November—and ability mean this would actually be a brilliant signing on paper.6. Sander BergeAn example of simple done well. | Visionhaus/Getty ImagesOn the radar as far back as 2020 but pulling on the colors of Sheffield United, Burnley and Fulham in the years since, Sander Berge’s name has come up again.Now, however, the Norway international is 28 years of age and becomes a shorter term investment with little to no resale value likely by the time an initial contract is ending.Berge is a consistent performer who would seemingly be happy to play in the shadows of flashier teammates. He wouldn’t be a bad signing by any stretch, but at a reported £40 million ($53 million), other younger alternatives might prove cheaper.5. Tyler AdamsPressing is second nature to Tyler Adams. | Robin Jones/AFC Bournemouth/Getty ImagesSlightly younger and cheaper than Berge is Tyler Adams—aged 27 and valued at £35 million ($46.5 million), per the Daily Mail.The USMNT star was part of a high-intensity style that Bournemouth successfully played under former manager Andoni Iraola which would lend itself well to Carrick’s United, a team that has become a testament to doing simple things well after previously complex instructions. Fans at Old Trafford also adore someone who runs hard for every minute.Adams isn’t a glamor signing, but it’s not always about superstars.4. Mamadou SangaréA star of the future? | Franco Arland/Getty ImagesThe Athletic recently said of Mamadou Sangaré, “This is the sort of player who spends two years at a Premier League club before being given a £60 million-plus price tag when United enquire.” The question is why the Red Devils don’t gamble on an unpolished gem at source.He’s effectively billed as ‘Aurélien Tchouaméni before Real Madrid’ and is considered a tidy ball winner, if not quite as physically imposing as Tchouaméni.Sangaré has taken a slightly circuitous career route to date, brought to Europe by Red Bull Salzburg but persistently loaned to clubs in Austria and Belgium, before a permanent transfer to Rapid Wien in 2024 appeared to be the foothold he needed. Lens came for him a year later and he helped them to a second-place finish in Ligue 1 and a Coupe de France win last season.Reports estimate availability for around £34 million ($45 million). The gamble is a very short record of success in one of Europe’s top five leagues.3. DaniloDanilo is back in Brazil after a previous Premier League spell. | MAURO PIMENTEL/AFP/Getty ImagesIn terms of monetary value alone, Danilo ranks well because of a reported price tag in the region of £25 million ($33 million). Aged 25, he’s not a young kid and did well enough at Botofogo in the second half of 2025 to earn a first Brazil callup in four years by March 2026.That translated to a World Cup place, although only 43 minutes on the pitch. Still, that was double the game time Carlo Ancelotti afforded to former United target Éderson.Danilo even has 50 Premier League games under his belt, at Nottingham Forest for 18 months until last summer, when the club cashed in for a small profit. There were arguments that the team never really played to his strengths, while he suffered a broken ankle early in what became his final season. He’d have a lot to prove returning to England, but the price means it might not be that much of a gamble. 2. Carlos BalebaExpensive but potentially worth it. | Nathan Stirk/Getty ImagesUnited backed away from Carlos Baleba interest in 2025 because of a prohibitive £100 million ($133 million) valuation applied by Brighton & Hove Albion. He’s still there and, after the brief transfer saga perhaps became unsettling, 2025–26 did little for him.As a Cameroon international, there was also no World Cup to re-inflate his value and it may have fallen as low as £70 million ($93 million) should United return now.Baleba still comes out expensive, but he’s proven in the Premier League already, is still pretty much in the infancy of his career, aged 22, and has a tremendously high ceiling if coached and nurtured in the right environment. He’s perhaps the best fit in terms of attributes to the specific role on offer thanks to his ball-winning ability chiefly driven by athleticism and stamina.Baleba could feasibly be at United for a decade, at which point £70 million looks a steal. But everything must go right for that to be the case. 1. Manu KonéManu Koné ticks the most boxes. | Giuseppe Maffia/NurPhoto/Getty ImagesThe player that perhaps provides the greatest balance of age, potential, proven ability and cost is Manu Koné, now known to a wider audience following the World Cup with France.Koné wasn’t a nobody before the tournament, playing his club soccer at Roma since 2024 after an earlier four-year spell in the Bundesliga. But when France started him for every game that Aurélien Tchouaméni was unavailable, it said plenty about his reputation.If United could sign the 25-year-old for a reported £51 million ($68 million)—the same as Camavinga, who is only marginally younger—it would seem a good price to have long-term upside and still even potential resale value further down the line.READ THE LATEST MAN UTD NEWS, ANALYSIS AND INSIGHT FROM SI FCAdd us as a preferred source on GoogleFollow