'Agreement reached' as INEOS's five midfield targets ranked by journalist

Manchester United’s wish to sign a third new midfielder of the summer has seen one respected journalist rank their chances of a move to Old Trafford amid claims that one of them is “1000%” a player they love and with an ‘agreement reached’ to sign another.

After deciding against paying the big bucks for the likes of Elliot Anderson, Sandro Tonali and Mateus Fernandes, Manchester United can have reason to be satisfied with their business so far after signing both Youri Tielemans and Andrey Santos for a combined £85m.

And with budget left in the kitty to land a third new arrival for the engine room, director of football Jason Wilcox is prepared to take his time and weigh up the merits of several would-be targets.

The profile of the third midfielder is simple: a defensive midfielder who can shield the backline and who, ideally, can quickly transition from defence to attack.

Several candidates have been linked, and now journalist Ben Jacobs has ranked the likelihood of all of Aurelien Tchouameni, Alex Scott, Carlos Baleba, Manu Kone and Tyler Adams joining the club.

Of those linked, Bournemouth star Scott and Kone of Roma seem the names most frequently mentioned.

Indeed, TEAMtalk revealed back on June 25 that an enquiry for Scott from United was instantly waved away.

The 22-year-old has since rejected a new deal at the Vitality Stadium, with Chelsea also having an offer rejected.

With two years left, one might expect the Cherries to cash in.

However, TEAMtalk correspondent Graeme Bailey revealed earlier this week that there remains confidence on the south coast that Scott will still sign a new deal, amid their plans to continue to bat away all offers that come their way this summer.

That has led to links with Kone growing, and it has since been claimed that an agreement has been reached over personal terms with the Roma star to move to Old Trafford, though club-to-club negotiations are yet to begin, per a number of sources.

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Man Utd’s five midfield targets ranked by journalist – one is 1000% liked

With all that information to hand, Jacobs, speaking to the United Stand, has ranked the likelihood of the quintet being the third option that United pursue.

“Yeah, I think Alex Scott is a high priority, but it’s just a high price, so you have to weigh those two things against each other, and we’ll wait and see whether Manchester United formally enter that race,” he said.

“Bournemouth had actually had a call from Manchester United [for Scott] before that Chelsea bid.

“Kone is definitely high in Manchester United’s thinking.

“He’s been looked at by Arsenal, Chelsea as well, even though they prioritised that bid for Alex Scott, but no real headway because the player was obviously at the World Cup, so we’re going to have to wait and see how that develops. But again, he’s much higher on the list.”

Back on July 3 when it emerged that United were chasing a deal for Santos, our sources also exclusively revealed the news on interest in Bournemouth star Adams.

Some three weeks later and now breaking through elsewhere in the media, Jacobs has also confirmed the American is in their thinking.

“Lower down is Tyler Adams, and at the moment Carlos Baleba is not to be discounted.

“And of all of the names, it probably would be fair to say that Aurelien Tchouameni would be right near the top of the list, but again, that is 1,000% irrelevant if the player is going to stay at the football club.

“And again, I come back to what I said before: he’s already agreed a new deal with Real Madrid.”

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Sky Sports have also confirmed a deal for Kone has been reached over personal terms, though they are adamant that Baleba cannot be discounted from the race either.

On Wednesday, our insider, Graeme Bailey, reaffirmed that in a perfect world, United would simply pull the trigger on Baleba.

“What I am hearing is they want someone who can really help them defensively,” Bailey told us.

“In an ideal world they’d just sign Carlos Baleba. They absolutely love his game. Yes, he didn’t have his best season, but they still believe he’d be an outstanding fit for Manchester United.”

We also understand that United are taking a ‘serious’ look at Fulham’s Sander Berge as a potential option after his price tag came to light.

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