10 Players Man Utd Should Target After Tielemans, Santos, Darlow Signings

A busy week for the Red Devils in the transfer market is only some of the battle.

Man Utd still have several positions to strengthen. | Richard Sellers/Sportsphoto/Allstar/Jacques Feeney/Offside/Image Photo Agency/Getty Images

Manchester United have already been active in the transfer market this summer and there are still seven weeks until the window closes. But even after announcing three new captures this week, the job of preparing the squad for a return to the Champions League is not done.

Andrey Santos and Youri Tielemans go some way to rebuilding a midfield left in skeletal form by Casemiro’s departure and Manuel Ugarte’s long-term injury. It was already in need of a depth boost anyway, made even more important when the number of matches being played in 2026–27 goes up by at least eight—but ideally a lot more—on last season.

The goalkeeping department has been signed off. Karl Darlow’s addition as a steady pair of hands to deputize for Senne Lammens, whose World Cup error in no way takes away from his status as one of the Premier League’s best between the sticks, is on top of veteran third choice Tom Heaton re-signing. Heaton’s role carries way more importance behind the scenes and on the training pitch.

André Onana is on loan at Trabzonspor for a second season and it appears to seal Altay Bayındır’s fate as well. A return to Türkiye for the promise of a starting job is most plausible.

But left back and left wing remain two other key positions to address. Depending on how far the budget stretches—and whether there will be any sales to boost—even a backup striker is worth considering to lessen the burden of playing in four competitions again.

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Defensive Midfield

Proven in the Premier League. | Crystal Pix/MB Media/Getty Images

Tielemans and Kobbie Mainoo offer a similar profile, intelligent passing midfielders who aren’t going to win a sprint race or fly into tackles. Santos is slightly more defensively minded but is still by no means a direct replacement for the destructive role Casemiro occupied for four years. The young Brazilian is more likely to screen than actively hunt the ball.

United have the tools to move the ball, taking players like Adam Wharton off the table now that Tielemans and, to a lesser extent, Santos are through the door.

Disrupting the other team and winning it back requires a different skillet. Atalanta’s Éderson could have been that type of player and there remains conflicting reporting as to whether interest in him is completely dead or could be revisited at a later date.

Carlos Baleba is the Premier League-proven option, not expected to cost anything like the £100 million ($134 million) that Brighton & Hove Albion quoted for the Cameroonian last year. His 2025–26 underwhelmed compared to his 2024–25 and is largely responsible for that, but a skillset that helped the Seagulls eighth that year is not in doubt and complements Tielemans and Mainoo.

The aptly-named Manu Koné is the alternative, who despite a World Cup to boost his valuation this summer, is still expected to be significantly cheaper. The figure quoted in the Italian press for the Roma and France player is £51 million ($68 million)

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Left Back

Lewis Hall ticks more than one box. | Jan Kruger/Getty Images

Luke Shaw’s resurgence last season, which saw him start all 38 Premier League matches after just 16 in the previous two combined, was a welcome boost that helped underpin a top-three finish.

But at the age of 31, a long history of injuries and no natural deputy, both immediate cover and a long-term successor is required. The assumption not long ago might have been that would be Patrick Dorgu, but the Denmark international has since demonstrated an aptitude higher up the pitch.

United didn’t need to plug a gap at left back last season because there wasn’t one. Right now, Diogo Dalot and Noussair Mazraoui are the best cover options that takes away from their own side.

Lewis Hall stands out as someone who could share the load with Shaw before eventually replacing him. The 21-year-old defender has thrived at Newcastle United since gambling on his future by leaving Chelsea in 2023 and may felt he—or Shaw—should have been in England’s World Cup squad. Newcastle’s selling appetite is likely to have lowered after Anthony Gordon and Sandro Tonali left.

Another Premier League player linked has been Antonee Robinson of Fulham. He is a very capable attacking left back with a proven ability to assist goals, but would be a different kind of target for the shorter-term picture given his next birthday, next month, will be his 29th.

Alejandro Balde might be a more left-field option to assess. The Barcelona talent—a graduate of La Masia—is still only 22 years of age but has a recent record of muscle injuries. If Hall is the most expensive, Robinson would come in cheapest and Balde the middle ground.

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Left Wing

Crysencio Summerville faces playing in the EFL Championship. | Kevin Hodgson/MI News/NurPhoto/Getty Images

United played last season without a recognized winger on the left flank. Dorgu eventually moved there but then spent many weeks injured. Even fit, he’s only half of it if having two players for every position on the field is the ultimate ideal.

Matheus Cunha did a brilliant job filling in but is better suited to operating in a central position and is not able to provide the kind of natural width in keeping with the fabled ‘United way.’

Marcus Rashford is one answer if no buyers step forward—and he will be reporting for preseason training as normal in that eventuality—but a fresh start for everyone might still be prioritized.

Someone like Anthony Gordon would have suited, until Barcelona moved quickly for him. Yan Diomande was the costliest consideration but has reportedly expressed a preference to join Paris Saint-Germain if he goes anywhere this summer.

Crysencio Summerville is now a leading target, much more cost effective than Morgan Rogers would be with his apparent £130 million ($174 million) price tag, and is the aggressive, direct winger that United fans like to see. Iliman Ndiaye is more like Rogers-lite, while Lille’s Matias Fernandez-Pardo has been rumored as a target a little further afield. He’s just 21.

If a left winger is signed, it also reduces the need for another striker to support Benjamin Šeško because of the release on Cunha to more freely rotate with the Slovenian.

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