Phillips, Bellingham or Rice? Man Utd may need to look further for midfield transfer

Robin Bairner

• 10 Apr 2022 13:04 BST
• 3 min read

Manchester United’s priority for the summer transfer window is set to be a high-quality central midfield player, with Kalvin Phillips, Jude Bellingham and Declan Rice all players regularly linked with the Old Trafford side.

Paul Pogba will be out of contract in the summer and, on the periphery of Ralf Rangnick’s squad at Old Trafford, appears increasingly destined to leave the club. Meanwhile, Fred and Scott McTominay are not players capable of controlling games against elite opponents.

For this reason, Man Utd are in the market for a new signing.

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The Red Devis, though, may need to cast their net wider than the three-man shortlist that The Sun suggests they have pieced together.

Kalvin Phillips

Nat Phillips appears to be the most viable of the three targets who have been outlined by the club. His contract situation remains unresolved at Leeds, although FootballTransfers understands that the Elland Road club remain bullish about fighting off interest for him.

Furthermore, he has spent much of the last season injured and will not come cheap.

Jude Bellingham

While Bellingham’s long-term future is unlikely to be at Borussia Dortmund, in the short term there is little prospect of the young Englishman departing unless Man Utd are willing to pay well above his market value.

BVB are a selling club but are under pressure to build a team that can mount a more sustainable push for honours in Germany. With Erling Haaland set to leave in the summer, they will aim to retain as much of their other talent as is possible. And that means keeping Bellingham.

Declan Rice

Another home-grown option, West Ham have been bullish about the price they expect for Rice. Manager David Moyes has repeatedly stated that it will be upwards of £100 million and was recently quoted as suggesting it would be £150m.

Man Utd’s owners are not typically flashy spenders and are unlikely to spend so lavishly on Rice.

The Old Trafford side’s solution to their midfield problem, then, appears to lie elsewhere.