Man Utd have £52m transfer plan to solve issue Solskjaer failed to fix

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Manchester United may be set to put Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s woes fully behind them in the near future with £52million reportedly put aside to target a move for Martin Zubimendi. The Red Devils been continually undergoing a rebuild for the past decade now with Solskjaer originally seen as the man to take them back to the top.

But midway through last season saw Solskjaer given the sack after a dip in form with United looking lacklustre at best. The problems appeared to stem from the lack of investment in midfield with Scott McTominay and Fred regularly depended on in the middle of the park.

While proving to be strong squad players, both Fred and McTominay were often criticised for their performances at the heart of United’s midfield. Donny van de Beek was a surprise signing in the summer of 2020 with the Dutchman eventually unable to break into the team with Bruno Fernandes the preferred attacking midfielder.

No other defensive midfielder was signed by Solskjaer during his reign despite links with the likes of Declan Rice, Franck Kessie and Ruben Neves among others. Ten Hag clearly saw the need to invest in a midfield maestro this summer and big money was spent in signing Casemiro from Real Madrid.

The Brazilian has already had an impact since his move, helping make United’s midfield more compact. And he also provides a strong line of defence in front of the back four to give United’s attackers more freedom going forward.

But at least one more signing will be needed to truly put United’s midfield woes behind them. Frenkie de Jong and Youri Tielemans are being linked with moves to Old Trafford, but Real Sociedad star Zubimendi appears to be top of their list.

According to Mundo Deportivo, United are following Zubimendi’s development closely and got a glimpse of his talents up close during the Europa League group stage. Despite signing a contract extension just a few months ago, the midfielder has a release clause of £52m which is reportedly appealing to United.

And Zubimendi is said to ‘wants to sign’ for United, suggesting negotiations on personal terms wouldn’t be an issue. With Fred’s contract expiring in the summer, United will need to bring in at least one central midfielder.

But Ten Hag will also want to inject some youth into the middle of the park with both Casemiro and Christian Eriksen turning 31 next year. And Zubimendi will bring exactly that with the 23-year-old tipped to be a regular for Spain in the years to come.

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