Rohan Sengupta
Jose Mourinho has made it his priority to address the midfield in the summer following the high-profile capture of Alexis Sanchez from Arsenal earlier this week.
Manchester United have been wanting a star name for years; a forward who is capable of playing everywhere in the attack. Finally, the pursuit came to fruition with the signing of Sanchez, who effectively ticks all the boxes. Now that we have got a talismanic attacker, Mourinho has altered his plans and is keen to strengthen the midfield at the end of the season.
The Independent reports that Nice midfielder Jean Michael Seri is the club’s top priority in the summer but United are also confident of signing Valencia’s Carlos Soler and Borussia Dortmund’s Julian Weigl.
When asked if United will sign Seri, Mourinho replied:
“No. I don’t speak about players. Tuanzebe goes on loan and nobody is leaving, nobody is coming. ‘Our transfer market in the summer will be short.”
The United manager’s straight ‘No’ for signing Seri might have poured cold water on all the speculation surrounding the Nice midfielder.
However, Mourinho remains keen on bringing a midfielder to replace the ageing Michael Carrick. Carrick, 36, who has just played once this season, is retiring at the end of the campaign and is apparently going to be a United coach soon. The Englishman has been a consistent performer throughout his career with the Red Devils and Mourinho is aiming to bring a player who would realistically replace the veteran star.
The potential departure of Marouane Fellaini at the end of the season could also further shake things up, with the big Belgian out of contract at the end of the season. Mourinho must be trying anything and everything to persuade Fellaini to sign a new contract but it looks highly unlikely that the combative midfielder would put pen to paper on a new deal.
In this scenario, the pursuit of Soler and Weigl makes complete sense. Weigl is a classy young midfielder, excellent at retaining possession as well as breaking up opposition’s play with his timely interceptions. He could, arguably, become a long-term solution for the retiring Carrick.
For people who don’t know about Soler; he is just 21 years old and has done a lot of good work to grab the eyeballs of those from United and few European elites.
Soler has been part of Valencia’s youth setup since the age of 8. He is not exactly a wide man but is more of a midfielder who is capable of dictating the tempo of the game with his wide range of passing abilities and has already made 11 appearances for Valencia this term.
Both Weigl and Soler are talented and promising players, but it would make sense if Mourinho decides to go for either one of them in summer.
