Manchester United officials are not alone in knowing that the most pressing area of squad improvement, in order to compete in the Premier League and Champions League next season, is the centre of midfield. Targets were identified long ago and we still expect Brazilian Ederson to become the first acquisition.

However, an unexpected double splurge by Tottenham Hotspur, bringing in Newcastle's Sandro Tonali and West Ham's Mateus Fernandes for a potential outlay of £180m, has inflated the market for players in that position?

With Manchester City winning the race for Forest's Elliot Anderson, where do United now turn to in their pursuit of midfielders, and how much of what has happened was factored into the transfer strategy. Things should become clearer once players return from the World Cup, but pre-season starts this week. Are we worried?

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.