What to expect from Man United before transfer deadline: first-team star’s U-turn, midfield targets & more

Manchester United have some big transfer plans for 2026, but what can we expect to see from them in the final few days of this window?

The Red Devils have had a quiet January, but there’s some good news in there as some big names are staying put, while we also take a look at who’s already being targeted for the summer.

The transfer deadline isn’t until 7pm on Monday February 2nd, so there’s still time for clubs to get some last-minute business done, though it currently looks like it will remain a quiet window for United.

Manchester United thinking ahead to summer with midfield transfer targets

Much of United’s focus at the moment is on midfielders, and that was the case before Casemiro’s departure at the end of this season was announced by the club and the player last week.

We understand Casemiro was offered the chance to stay if he took a significant pay cut, but that didn’t materialise, and the experienced Brazilian will need replacing.

Elliot Anderson is United’s dream target, but they also have an eye on others due to the fact that some sources view Manchester City as the early favourites to land the Nottingham Forest midfielder.

Joao Gomes

As reported here, Joao Gomes is another name on United’s radar after his impressive performances for Wolves. They notably signed Matheus Cunha from Molineux last summer, and this could be another opportunity for them, especially if Wolves get relegated, as seems likely.

Adam Wharton

Meanwhile, Adam Wharton is, like Anderson, another young English talent attracting plenty of interest, with Sky Sports recently claiming MUFC were keen on him. Crystal Palace have recently sold big names like Eberechi Eze and Marc Guehi, so it would make sense if big clubs fancied their chances with Wharton.

Felix Nmecha

Felix Nmecha has impressed at Borussia Dortmund and our understanding is that both United and Chelsea are big fans after monitoring him in recent times. The Germany international won’t come cheap, however, and it will be interesting to see if United instead focus on the likes of Anderson, Wharton and Gomes due to them already being proven in the Premier League.

Who’s staying and who’s going?

Casemiro may be moving on in the summer, and most likely Manuel Ugarte too, but the good news for now is that Bruno Fernandes and Kobbie Mainoo are staying.

BBC Sport recently reported that the Portugal international would not be seeking a move away from Old Trafford this month. However, the report adds that he will look again at his situation in the summer, when he’ll have just one year left on his contract.

Meanwhile, Kobbie Mainoo is no longer looking for a move after being given assurances over his role by new interim manager Michael Carrick. The England international had been a target for several clubs, but has started both games and played 90 minutes against Manchester City and Arsenal since Carrick took over.

That’s a huge boost for the club as Mainoo had fallen out of favour under previous manager Ruben Amorim and there looked like being a real danger of losing him, with Napoli showing concrete interest in the summer and ahead of this January, while Chelsea have also been admirers of his.

Harry Maguire won’t be leaving this January but is attracting interest as he nears the end of his contract, with no talks held yet over a new deal and the expectation being that he’ll move on as a free agent in the summer. Maguire’s situation has Chelsea on alert as surprise suitors, as we recently reported.

Other Man United transfer stories to watch

Marcus Rashford continues to impress on loan at Barcelona, but it’s not yet clear if he’ll definitely stay there permanently.

The England international supposedly has interest from Paris Saint-Germain if the move to Barca falls through, but a return to Man Utd still seems highly unlikely for him.

Those PSG links come from Football Insider, and we know this is a story with plenty of history to it, as the Ligue 1 giants have spoken with him before and publicly praised him, as per Fabrizio Romano’s X post from a few years ago…

PSG president Al Khelaifi on Rashford: “He’s amazing — to have Rashford for free, every club will be running after him. We’re not hiding it, we have spoken before”, tells Sky. ???????? #MUFC

“Maybe [this] summer? Why not. If he’s free agent, we can talk to him directly but not now”. pic.twitter.com/CGDDoHjb8M

— Fabrizio Romano (@FabrizioRomano) December 8, 2022

Finally, a name to watch for United and a number of other top clubs is talented young RB Leipzig winger Yan Diomande.

We’ve reported on United making an offer for Diomande, but this is going to be a complicated and expensive deal which will most likely wait until the summer.

If a move for Diomande doesn’t work out, MUFC will likely look at similar players as they could still do with strengthening in attack after somewhat inconsistent debut seasons from the likes of Matheus Cunha and Benjamin Sesko, while Rashford, as already mentioned, most likely won’t be coming back.

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