Why Manchester United's shock £24m transfer might prove to be a big mistake

Here’s how it was all supposed to go: Manchester United would pocket a hefty sum from Saudi Arabia when one of their deeply-pocketed Pro League clubs took Casemiro off their hands. In turn, they would spend their newfound wealth on Paris Saint-Germain’s Manuel Ugarte, an impressive holding midfielder seen as a poor fit for Luis Enrique’s system. All very simple and profitable.

Now, here’s how it’s actually going: Saudi interest in Casemiro has cooled considerably and they’re contemplating the signing of Sander Berge instead, fresh from his second relegation after a disappointing season at Burnley. According to Caught Offside, he could cost as much as £24m, which is at least less than half of the going rate for Ugarte. On paper, it’s a rather less appealing piece of transfer business.

Fans of Championship football will, of course, know that Berge can be rather better than he was at Turf Moor last season. The 26-year-old Norwegian midfielder was one of the best players in the second tier during his stint at Sheffield United and a crucial player for the team that earned promotion to the Premier League back in 2023 – but he struggled following a surprising summer move as the Blades shed key players in order to pay the bills.

That version of Berge, the rather staid midfielder who seemed serviceable but little better at Burnley, is not the kind of player a club like Manchester United would normally have on their radar. He was competent enough – he served up thoroughly respectable numbers for tackles and turnovers and his passing accuracy was rock solid – but a player who offered up 19 goal contributions over two years in the Championship showed little of the spark and verve with which he played at Bramall Lane.

Ugarte, meanwhile, who is still presumed to be the real target, started off his PSG career in exceptional fashion before head coach Enrique tinkered with the system and decided to make the Uruguayan a peripheral figure. He’s a brilliant tackler who reads the game superbly well and an extremely efficient, economical passer. He’s dynamic and effective, and looks every inch like an elite player and potential difference-maker.

But if United simply can’t afford him, then it’s reasonable to turn to a cut-price alternative. That doesn’t mean that a move for Berge (who has also been linked to Fenerbahçe) necessarily jumps out as immediately sensible, however. If what they want is a combative midfielder who can dominate central areas, then Berge has not really demonstrated that to be his forte.

That’s precisely the role he largely played for Burnley – a pro-active, pressing midfielder who stayed narrow and looked to pressure possession all over the pitch, but while he put plenty of hard yards in he wasn’t able to influence play enough to prevent his club from being overrun by better teams and nor was he able to act as a playmaking force either. He managed just one goal and two assists all season.

At Sheffield United, by comparison, he played a rather more dynamic role – he was still all-action and expected to chase down lost causes across the midfield, but in possession he would drift down the channels on the right and attack spaces created by his team-mates, providing an attacking outlet. It was hugely effective.

But Erik ten Hag’s system, which prioritises direct attacks and expands the field with a deep defensive line and high attacking line, really doesn’t suit that kind of player. Attempts to use Mason Mount as a dynamic, half-defensive, half-attacking midfielder failed because the gaps between defence and attack were just too large. Mount was largely left isolated, lacking the pace to get from one end of the pitch to the other to influence play in both boxes. Berge is no quicker and no more likely to be able to play both roles at once. If he ever flourishes in the Premier League, it is likely to be as part of a far more compact team and one that allows him the freedom to carry the ball forward rather than acting as a holding midfielder first and foremost.

Berge is not a bad player, rather one whose gifts make him a decent Premier League footballer rather than a dominant one, and one who hasn’t always been used in ways that best suit him. It’s hard to imagine a vast change to that dynamic happening at Old Trafford, and it’s hard to imagine him being worth the better part of £25m to a club whose midfield needs a rethink rather than another body. Although what it may need most of all is for someone, anyone, to buy Casemiro.