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Manchester United manager Erik ten Hag had pointed quite early on in his tenure that he wants competition from places and ideally two high-quality players vying for every position.
Unfortunately, the United squad is quite weak at the moment especially in key areas like up front and in the centre of the midfield.
While the Red Devils are vying for the signature of Tottenham record goalscorer Harry Kane, a case also must be made for the defensive pivot’s position.
After a long while the club splashed the cash to bring in a proper defensive midfielder last summer despite former manager Ole Gunnar Solskjaer crying out for one for over two seasons.
Another defensive pivot required at OT
Casemiro has been an ever-present member of the first-team but he did look leggy in certain games due to the sheer volume of games the club had to play.
The Brazilian was suspended on three separate occasions and during those games, the Red Devils looked below-par with Scott McTominay proving to be an inadequate replacement.
The 20-time English league champions have been linked with a couple of defensive pivots recently — West Ham’s Declan Rice and Sofyan Amrabat of Fiorentina.
The Peoples Person had recently reported that Leeds United midfielder Tyler Adams could emerge as a shock target following the club’s relegation to the Championship.
And now Football Insider have revealed that the American has informed The Whites that he wants to leave in the summer and United are among the teams keeping a tab on the situation.
“Tyler Adams has told Leeds United he wants to leave the club this summer. The USA central midfielder, 24, is attracting interest from Premier League teams as well as Bundesliga clubs and does not want to drop down to the Championship.
“Aston Villa have registered their interest in a potential deal, while Man United are also keeping tabs on his situation.”
Leeds suffered heavily when the US international underwent hamstring surgery in March and his absence coincided with a huge drop in form.
A lot of interest in Adams’ services
Adams made 26 appearances across all competitions and ranked in the top 99 percentile for tackles and in the top 97 percentile for blocks as per Fbref.
The 24-year-old joined from RB Leipzig last summer for a fee worth up to £20million including add-ons and he is currently valued at €20million according to Transfermarkt and his deal expires in 2027.
Leeds are expected to demand a £35million-plus fee for the midfielder and it will be interesting to see where he lands up in the end.
Adams would be the ideal backup option should Ten Hag decide he needs one and he would not cost as much as Rice and would be Premier League ready as compared to Amrabat.
