Man Utd made right call on £85m Mateus Fernandes but the 8 midfielders left on their books makes for worrying reading

A GLANCE at the list of Manchester United midfielders is almost cause for a re-think on “one more year” for Casemiro.

Now Casemiro profile has been removed from the club website and loans are officially over, the list of first team midfielders reads as follows: Toby Collyer, Bruno Fernandes, Jack Fletcher, Tyler Fletcher, Dan Gore, Kobbie Mainoo, Mason Mount and Manuel Ugarte.

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Fernandes is more of a forward and Mount is a playmaker by trade. Ugarte is out injured for the rest of 2026 and the presence of the four rookies is tenuous.

Collyer has made three starts for United in the League Cup and Europa League. Dan Gore’s sole substitute appearance was almost three years ago. The Fletchers have five substitute appearances between them.

Jack, regarded as the more talented of the twins (he represents England) was all at sea during his cameos and the last was on December 30. Tyler, a benchwarmer for Scotland at the World Cup, acquitted himself well against Tottenham and Brighton, albeit Spurs were down to ten men and United were 3-0 up at the Amex.

Neither are out-and-out first-teamers and their profiles should still be in the Under-21 section. It does them nor their father Darren, the U18 coach, any favours and will fuel accusations of nepotism.

Shea Lacey was included in more United matchday squads and made more appearances than the Fletchers but is not in the first team section. Oddly, Ethan Wheatley is after unmemorable loans with Walsall, Northampton Town and Bradford City.

But back to that midfield roster. United will add Ederson after Brazil’s World Cup campaign but their current octet might make some yearn for the summer of Michael Carrick, Ander Herrera, Marouane Fellaini, Morgan Schneiderlin and Bastian Schweinsteiger. Or the quartet of Paul Pogba, Nemanja Matic, Scott McTominay and Fred in 2019.

Elliot Anderson and Mateus Fernandes will be making a splash on the Manchester City and Tottenham websites. To be gazumped by City is bearable but for nearly-relegated Tottenham to blow United out of the water is a different kind of blow.

You cannot blame United for refusing to pay £85million for a twice-relegated 21-year-old who only moved to the Premier League in August 2024.

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Fernandes was also unwilling to insist on joining United, as Bryan Mbeumo was when Tottenham came in hot and heavy for him last year.

As this correspondent wrote recently, United have been burnt from signing players who did not truly want to sign for them (Angel di Maria and Paul Pogba), so there is little point in pursuing them.

United are also not the paying patsies they once were. Ajax valued Antony at €60m early in the 2022 summer window. He was sold for €100m.

Senior figures at United were adamant they would not spend more than £60m on Rasmus Hojlund in 2023. Then they paid an up-front fee of £64m rising to £72m. Hojlund and Antony were duds, overwhelmed by the exorbitant fees United paid for them.

Tottenham entered the bidding belatedly for Fernandes, effectively wrecking United’s plans. Fernandes was wanted by United and generated interest from Arsenal and Real Madrid yet will end up at Tottenham. The deal raises more questions about Fernandes than United.

When West Ham went down in 2003, Joe Cole moved to Chelsea for £6.6m and that was months into the heavy spending Roman Abramovich era.

Parachute payments were not introduced for another three years, so second-tier clubs could not dig their heels in.

But £6.6m, adjusted for inflation, is worth £13.54m today. Cole was wanted by Sir Alex Ferguson long before he took the District Line west and Chelsea still only paid seven figures.

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Yet United must know they have to stump up serious money if they want serious midfielders, particularly Premier League-proven options.

The £130m Anderson deal has inflated the market but United ought to have seen that coming. They moved quickly for Ederson, a £35m buy from Atalanta who had a year left on his contract. What was the rush there?

Admittedly, Ederson was not in the original Brazil World Cup squad, which may have been an incentive. His 11th hour call-up now means his transfer will be confirmed later this month.

But there was no competition for Ederson. The logical strategy was to move for Fernandes as soon as West Ham were relegated on May 24. United conceded defeat in the final hours of June.

The last player who wilfully chose to go to Tottenham over United was Paul Gascoigne in 1991, one that got away and one Ferguson was still ruing nearly 20 years later.

Fernandes could be this year’s Liam Delap: a dodged bullet. Delap rejected United in late May last year but United did not inform Benjamin Sesko’s camp that they definitely wanted him until two months later.

In between, United bought Matheus Cunha and were involved in protracted negotiations for Bryan Mbeumo. The one-at-a-time approach paid off, with Senne Lammens a deadline-day arrival, but United are behind the curve this year.

Director of football Jason Wilcox and director of recruitment Christopher Vivell have credit in the bank on the strength of last summer. It is United’s second-best summer window after 2007 when they brought in Nani, Anderson, Owen Hargreaves and Carlos Tevez to retain the Premier League and win the Champions League. United have to be more competitive in both of those competitions next season.

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They should back themselves to negotiate a sensible overall fee with Bournemouth for Alex Scott and/or Brighton for Carlos Baleba. An acceptable up-front fee, with add-ons, instalments and amortisation factored in would enable both clubs to spin such a deal as a positive.

United could add that Scott and Baleba were playing for clubs now in Europe. The only European aways West Ham and Fernandes lined up are Wrexham, Swansea and Cardiff. Those Championship clubs would not have some of those United ‘first team’ midfielders.

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