Not Mateus Fernandes - Man United's dream next summer signing could be £86m machine

It may be early days, but Manchester United’s summer transfer window isn’t going entirely according to plan. They may have agreed a deal to sign Atalanta’s Éderson but their search for a second midfielder is proving to be a little trickier – they’ve missed out on Elliot Anderson, who is set to move to Manchester City, and seem increasingly likely to lose the race to sign West Ham’s Mateus Fernandes too.

With Anderson off the table and Fernandes expected to sign for Tottenham Hotspur after the North London club came in with a higher bid, United are casting around for a Plan C – and may have found it in the shape of Borussia Dortmund’s Felix Nmecha. But will this deal prove any easier to get over the line, or will United be frustrated once again?

Manchester United pursuing Felix Nmecha – reports

Nmecha is one of a very large number of midfielders who have been linked with a move to Old Trafford in recent months, and until recently there was no evidence that he was a particular priority – but recent reports from Germany suggest increasing activity surrounding the 25-year-old’s future.

Sky Sport Germany reporter Patrick Berger said on Thursday that Manchester United were “stepping up their pursuit” of Nmecha – the brother of Leeds United striker Lukas – and several gossip outlets carried similar stories. There is no suggestion that a formal offer has yet been made, but there is a suggestion that talks of some form have taken place.

Berger also noted that Manchester City, Liverpool and Real Madrid held some degree of interest, with his impressive performances at the World Cup perhaps serving to put him in the spotlight – after scoring one of Germany’s seven goals against Curaçao, Nmecha provided a crucial assist in a 2-1 win over the Ivory Coast to ensure his country’s progress to the round of 32.

As it stands, however, Manchester United do appear to be more interested than their potential rivals – but that alone won’t guarantee that a deal gets done, and Dortmund appear keen to keep hold of one of their core players.

Kicker also offered up a fresh reporton Nmecha’s future, noting that “numerous” top-tier teams were tracking him while suggesting that Dortmund would only be prepared to sell him for a transfer fee of €100m (£86m), which may be too steep for United given that they currently appear unwilling to go past £80m for Fernandes.

Dortmund have a strong negotiating position, with Nmecha under contract through to the end of the 2029/2030 season, and according to Kicker there is no minimum fee release clause baked into the midfielder’s contract. If United do want Nmecha, they will have to pay over the odds.

Will Manchester United sign Nmecha this summer – or turn elsewhere?

While Manchester United appear to hold genuine interest in Nmecha, he is only one name on the shortlist – and the club appear keen not to overspend, a fact which may be dictating their decision-making process.

Among the other players United have considered are Newcastle’s Sandro Tonali and Bournemouth’s Alex Scott, but with their current clubs both currently playing hardball over the price, United have yet to push hard for either signing. That suggests that if Dortmund are indeed intent on keeping Nmecha, the Red Devils are likely to back away.

Another possible target is Real Madrid’s Aurelién Tchouaméni, but the Spanish side do not appear to have made a decision about the Frenchman’s future as yet. There have also been links to Crystal Palace’s Adam Wharton and Brighton & Hove Albion’s Carlos Baleba, but neither appear to be a priority target – United bid for Baleba towards the end of last summer but were put off by the price tag, and seem to have cooled their interest after the Cameroon international endured a disappointing season at the Amex Stadium.

United are keen to get a deal done sooner rather than later but seem to be prepared to wait for a better deal instead of hurrying their next signing along. Their pursuit of Nmecha, then, may depend on so many factors that it gets pushed some distance down the line.

Certainly it will take patience to sign him, especially given that he is currently focussed on Germany’s World Cup run – and it’s not clear that United necessarily have him as their priority target after Anderson and Fernandes, nor that they’ve yet given up hope of striking a deal for the latter. There’s a long way to go, but Nmecha is just one of many possible signings as it stands, and perhaps not the most likely.