Romano CONFIRMS Man Utd interest in Christian Eriksen replacement

Robin Bairner

• 1 Apr 2024 08:52 BST
• 19 min read

Fabrizio Romano has confirmed that Manchester United are looking at Wolves midfielder Joao Gomes as a potential replacement for Christian Eriksen.

Eriksen is one of a number of Man Utd players who is expected to be moved on in the summer, with Denmark international having been plagued by injury issues this term.

Romano says that Gomes is a player who is being monitored by a string of big clubs, including the Red Devils.

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“My information for the moment is that Gomes is being scouted by all top clubs in Premier League, it’s something like 4-5 clubs,” Romano told the Daily Briefing.

“But Manchester United have not decided yet what they want to do in the midfield. It will be important to understand the board structure before and what’s going to happen with Casemiro and/or Eriksen to understand how Man United’s plan will evolve.

“So, while interest from top clubs in Gomes is there, at the moment it’s just scouting, and Man United have not decided their plans yet. It’s still early as having a new director in place will be crucial so they can finalise plans on who to target and how much to spend.”

FootballTransfers understands that Man Utd will have to pay well in excess of €47 million to sign the midfielder whose Estimated Transfer Value (ETV) is only €14.4m,. Gomes’ future is tied to Pedro Neto, with the winger linked to Arsenal and Manchester City.

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How good is Joao Gomes?

A Brazil international, the 23-year-old Gomes has played 40 matches for Wolves since joining the Molineux club from Flamengo in January 2023.

He has not immediately impressed in the Premier League, despite interest in the player, who moved for €18.7 million 18 months ago.

Joao Gomes vs Premier League midfielders 2023/24

Joao Gomes vs Premier League midfielders: Recoveries 2023/24

Data analytics experts SciSports rate him as one of the poorest-performing central midfielders in the Premier League this season, although he does score very highly in terms of his ability to recover the ball.

This capacity to break up play and retain possession could be one reason why the Red Devils are so keen on following his progress.