Manchester United: Five Transfer Targets for January or the Summer

Manchester United have had a major change in management with Ralf Rangnick coming in and I was hoping we’d get to see more of them under the new manager.

We have a fair idea about the Manchester United squad and Ralf Rangnick’s style of play, as well as his setup in the games we’ve seen him take charge of so far.

Rangnick himself has acknowledged that winter is a difficult transfer window to find the right players to sign to help improve the squad.

So while I’m not expecting many incomings, it’s not unreasonable to think that they could be looking to sign one or two players in the winter window to smoothen the transition into the high-press vertical, passing style.

With that in mind, here are five players I believe might be transfer targets for Manchester United in January including multiple options for a “tall”, energetic defensive midfielder that appears to be the priority for their squad.

1) Aurelien Tchouameni (Central midfield, AS Monaco)

The 6 foot 2 inches French central midfielder is likely to be hot property in the summer given his skillset. After a quality breakthrough campaign last year, Tchouameni has continued to build on that to deliver some excellent performances this season and further his development.

While not a “pure” defensive midfielder, Tchouameni has the dynamism and ability to be a box-to-box, seek-and-destroy kind of midfielder that would suit the double pivot of Rangnick’s 4-2-2-2 system really well.

With close to 6 tackles plus interceptions per 90 in the 97th percentile for those metrics compared to other central midfielders, a strong 2.5 aerial duels won per 90, close to 60 passes attempted per game at a very respectable 86% accuracy and encouraging looking progressive passes and carries, Tchouameni looks like an immense talent at the age of 21, capable of fulfilling a multitude of midfield roles and especially excelling as a box-to-box midfielder.

Looking every bit able to adjust and perform in the pace and physicality of the Premier League, Manchester United would do well to secure his signature early given concrete interest from Chelsea and further rumours linking him to Real Madrid and Liverpool.

2) Amadou Haidara (Central midfield, RB Leipzig)

The inevitable Red Bull connections for Ralf Rangnick but they actually make sense. It’s difficult to pick the right talent in the January window but in picking players for the RB system, Rangnick has players he and his coaches have seen up close.

They have had a significant amount of time training in a similar footballing style to the kind he wants to play at Old Trafford. The 23-year-old Haidara isn’t the tallest midfielder but brings to the table an excellent combination of skills.

He’s defensively sound while boasting a tremendous work rate, averages close to 20 pressures per 90, is actively involved in progressive passes made, received and progressive carries and also additionally contributes an impressive 3 shot-creating actions and 0.26 npxG+A per 90 from his central midfield role.

Another midfielder that’s a good fit for the double pivot in a 4-2-2-2 should Rangnick want to pair him up with a more defence-minded partner with decent aerial ability.

3) Tyler Adams (Central midfield, Right back. RB Leipzig)

Tyler Adam’s would be an astute signing for Rangnick’s United and for a lot of reasons primary of which is his footballing ability.

The 22-year-old American has good defensive instincts and good positioning sense to break up attacks, win the ball aggressively, as well as the skill on the ball to play out of pressure situations — or make things happen when he wins it back.

Additionally, his energy and defensive quality mean he’s also done a fine job playing right back for RB Leipzig and thus provides a more attuned option to play as either right back or right wing-back as a backup in case the need arises — especially given question marks over Wan-Bissaka’s ability to fulfil the demands of the fullback role in Rangnick’s system.

A young, versatile player who should have no difficulty in picking up the expected playing style, even mid-season, and likely available at a more reasonable price than the two aforementioned options; he should be high up on the wanted list for the Red Devils.

The rising popularity of football in the USA means there’s even commercial sensibility in this move, for the club.

4) Florian Wirtz (Attacking midfield, Bayer Leverkusen)

For the last 2, I’ve gone with far more speculative picks than the initial 3 since it’s difficult to identify players that would improve a squad of Manchester United’s quality.

However, bearing in mind that Jesse Lingard might be moving on this window or the next, Paul Pogba still hasn’t signed a new deal and the club view both Rashford and Greenwood as strikers; adding a young fourth attacking midfielder in the summer for 2 playing spots, alongside Bruno Fernandes, Jadon Sancho and Donny Van de Beek, makes sense for the squad.

Very much a signing for the summer window at the earliest, 18-year-old Florian Wirtz is emerging as a world-class talent and is the kind of signing every elite European club will be looking to make.

The German attacking midfielder has 13 goal contributions in 13 league games this season as things stand. With terrific creative numbers to boast and his 21 pressures per 90, ranking him close to the 90th percentile for attacking midfielders, it makes him well suited to the role Rangnick and his stylistically-similar successor will look to play.

At 18, Wirtz is showing the goods that might make him in the top 5 most sought after players this summer itself and acting early to lay some groundwork towards a deal, might serve Manchester United very well in the present and future.

5) Josko Gvardiol (Centre back, RB Leipzig)

A player that only just moved to Leipzig in the summer, Gvardiol must have worked himself into being a top centre back target for various top European clubs for the next summer window itself.

Beginning the campaign with an assured set of displays out-of-position at left back for Croatia in the Euro’s, Gvardiol has enjoyed a fine start to his Leipzig career.

A primarily left-footed centre back equally adept with his “weaker” right foot, Gvardiol is very strong in the air and surprisingly assured with the ball at his feet to dribble out with it or pick out a pass. He ranks close to the 95th percentile for tackles, interceptions, as well as pressures per 90 for centre backs.

The 6 feet 2 inches 19-year-old centre-back brings quality and a true left-footed ball-playing centre back option that will be key towards the high line defence and playing style expected from Ralf Rangnick and his potential successor.

Having a season of top-flight football with Leipzig under his belt, Gvardiol is going to be hot property going into summer 2022.

Conclusion on Manchester United’s possible targets

While Manchester United will always be linked to a multitude of players, I decided against writing about Declan Rice who I believe is an exceptional player but his asking price will likely remain incredibly high even this summer, making a deal unlikely.

Boubacar Kamara, a defensive midfielder who’s been linked with the Manchester club and written about extensively in recent weeks.

Speculation about striker to replace the outgoing Cavani isn’t a priority as I believe that having Ronaldo for another year, as well as the talent of Rashford and Greenwood available, might be enough in the position for Manchester United for a couple more windows.