‌Last week, it emerged that United had held preliminary talks with a 'mystery midfielder' who had previous Premier League experience, but is now based abroad. ‌Loftus-Cheek ticks those boxes, turning out for Chelsea, Crystal Palace and Fulham, before signing for Milan in the summer of 2023. United, who remain firmly in the Champions League hunt, have also discussed the possibility of going after Wilfred Ndidi. The former Leicester midfielder is currently the captain of Besiktas but has aspirations to return to England for football and family reasons. Carrick was able to extract a huge performance level from his team in his first game as United shocked Manchester City on Saturday.

Source: Daily Mirror January 20, 2026 16:11 UTC