Man United should make transfer-linked 'autopilot' baller who is tipped for 'higher level' a priority: opinion
Man United have been linked with several midfielders but Ruben Amorim should only be targeting this one.
Manchester United are starting to look up the table rather than over their shoulder for the first time since Ruben Amorim took charge.
The manager got things right against Liverpool and served a reminder that he is a more than competent tactician and that he can set up a team to cause problems. After a summer clearout, there are areas that need to be addressed in the January transfer window with space on the wage bill following a series of high profile departures. Rock bottom has been hit and now United need to rebuild with players who can take them to the next level.
Man United should make Elliot Anderson a priority transfer target
Recruitment is never a perfect science, nor is it possible to get every signing right, but as seen with the acquisitions of Matheus Cunha and Bryan Mbeumo, there are ways to mitigate risk. Shopping for Premier League players can be an expensive business but it is safer with United considering a move for England’s man of the moment Elliot Anderson. What should be taken as a good sign, is that two clubs who the Red Devils should be looking to catch are also interested.
The surprise flyer under Thomas Tuchel has been the emergence of Anderson as a player who won’t just be on the plane to the USA, but who will be a certainty to have his name in the starting XI of the first England game of the 2026 World Cup. What the 23-year old has done is make make other players around him look better and add the sort of control that has been missing in recent years.
For United, the only way that they will catch and pass teams like Man City and Chelsea, who are also keeping tabs on Anderson, is by signing players who would get into their first teams and Anderson would. When Forest signed him from Newcastle United it looked like a transfer that helped both teams get around PSR restrictions with the £40m price tag raising a few eyebrows, instead it is the former who have won a watch. It is easy to forget that Anderson wasn’t guaranteed to get into Eddie Howe’s team ahead of Sandro Tonali, Bruno Guimares and Joelinton.
United should always target the best young England players and Anderson could be a regular in midfield for the next 10 years. He is every bit as composed in possession as another United target Adam Wharton, but more physical and dominant when his team doesn’t have the ball.
Just how good is Elliot Anderson?
Anderson’s midfield partner for England Declan Rice has only played with him on a handful of occasions but is already a fan, it is the sort of relationship that Amorim could see him develop with Bruno Fernandes, who also does his best work in possession and during attacking phases of play.
“I think he probably can’t play at a higher level. He’s taken it in his stride and is playing exactly how he does for his club,” the Arsenal man said of Anderson in an interview with ITV. “When you have a lad who’s that confident, who comes in and feels like they don’t have to do anything different, just go on the pitch, it’s like autopilot the way he plays.
“We’ve built up a really, really strong relationship in midfield. We’ve had close relationships there, we’re playing closer together and he’s letting me go forward a little bit more, so we’re building a nice little partnership.
“The manager has really liked us in the last three games and he’s kept with that. We’ve just got to keep building on that. The World Cup is in the summer and there is still a long way to go. The more we can play and keep building momentum, it will be really important.”
If there were doubts about Anderson when he made his move to Forest, those a long gone and he is now one of the most in Selena’s midfielders in Europe.