Man Utd eye next midfield signing after Ugarte but are playing catch-up for former Liverpool target

Manchester United remain on the lookout for midfield reinforcements despite the impending addition of Manuel Ugarte, with a former Liverpool target tipped to be the next player on their radar – if they can beat a different Premier League contender to his signature.

Ugarte is on course to become Man Utd’s fifth signing of the summer transfer window. The tough-tackling midfielder will arrive at Old Trafford after a single season at Paris Saint-Germain, having previously played for Sporting CP.

Ugarte is seen as an upgrade on Casemiro for Man Utd and a player who could be the ideal partner for Kobbie Mainoo in midfield. Nevertheless, with Scott McTominay’s future up in the air while Napoli bid for him, Man Utd are still scouring the market for more midfielders they could bring in.

According to Football Transfers, Man Utd are also monitoring Fluminense midfielder Andre Trindade, who last summer was the subject of serious interest from Liverpool but remained in Brazil to become a Copa Libertadores winner.

A move to the Premier League could still be in Andre’s destiny and the report claims Man Utd are one of two Premier League sides now pressing ahead with approaches for the 23-year-old.

But the other is not Liverpool – and nor is it Fulham, who explored a move for Andre earlier this summer. Instead, the Premier League rival currently leading Man Utd in the race for Andre is Wolves.

Although Andre remains under contract until December 2026, Fluminense could cash in on him. According to the report, their asking price is between €25m and €30m (£21.2m-£25.4m).

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It seems to be a direct battle between Man Utd and Wolves, since they are the two clubs to be holding talks about a potential move for Andre.

Having spent his entire career so far with Fluminense, making nearly 200 appearances, Andre is believed to be open to a new challenge in the Premier League.

It may help Wolves’ case that he shares an agent with one of the Brazilian midfielders already at Gary O’Neil’s disposal, Joao Gomes.

Andre meets Man Utd transfer criteria

But if Man Utd’s interest is genuine, they won’t want to be beaten to a target – especially one that fits their new transfer policy in the INEOS era, with a focus on investing in younger players with potential.

At 23 years of age, and already with five caps for Brazil under his belt – including one in which he came on as a substitute for Casemiro – Andre is at an exciting stage of his progress as a professional footballer.

The fact that he has been earmarked as a potential Casemiro successor at international level could be encouraging, since the 32-year-old has never seemed like a natural fit for Sir Jim Ratcliffe’s new regime.

Casemiro joined Man Utd in a big-money move from Real Madrid in 2022 and had a strong first season, but his standards dipped in his second.

Nevertheless, his third has begun in decent fashion, with manager Erik ten Hag seemingly happy to stick with him now. Casemiro’s contract lasts until 2026.

Instead, all eyes are currently on McTominay in terms of Man Utd midfield departures. Napoli’s opening offer for the Scotland international, who came through United’s academy, was not acceptable for the Red Devils, but the Serie A side could come back to the negotiating table.

McTominay is a more attack-minded midfielder than either Casemiro, Andre or Ugarte, though, so the specific roles in United’s midfield system may be evolving.