Manchester United Eye Sander Berge Amid Midfield Market Surge
Manchester United’s midfield rebuild is starting to look less like a grand plan and more like a high‑wire act in an inflated market. With primary targets slipping away for eye-watering sums, the club are once again circling a familiar name: Sander Berge.
The Norway international, currently impressing at the World Cup, has re-emerged on United’s radar as INEOS and the Old Trafford hierarchy reassess their options in a market where prices for midfielders have gone wild.
Big targets, bigger fees
United’s initial blueprint was clear enough. Elliot Anderson and Mateus Fernandes were the preferred options, but the numbers quickly turned ugly.
Anderson’s move to Manchester City at around £116million set the tone. Fernandes, signed by Tottenham Hotspur for £85m despite West Ham United’s relegation, underlined just how distorted the market has become. United walked away from both, unwilling to be dragged into bidding wars that would shatter their own internal valuations.
That stance has forced a rethink. The club are now exploring a wider pool of midfielders: Alex Scott at Bournemouth, Aurelien Tchouameni at Real Madrid and Andrey Santos at Chelsea are all under consideration. None of them will be cheap. None of them will be straightforward.
And in the middle of that reshuffle, Berge’s name has quietly moved back up the list.
Berge back in the frame
United’s interest in Berge is not new. They tracked him closely during the 2023-24 season, when he was at Burnley, but watched Fulham move first with a £25m deal. At the time, United chose not to act.
Now, his form for Norway has pushed him back into the conversation.
“Sander Berge is an interesting one. He’s playing pretty well for Norway in the World Cup,” said The Athletic’s Old Trafford reporter Laurie Whitwell on the Talk of the Devils podcast, outlining why the 28-year-old is being discussed again inside the club.
Whitwell also pointed out that Berge is no longer a £25m opportunity. Fulham would demand significantly more this time, but the profile appeals. Not as a headline act, not as a transformative signing, but as a reliable, ready-made option.
“He would be the player that would fit into the team straight away,” Whitwell noted, before stressing that Berge is not the kind of signing to redefine United’s ceiling, rather one to raise the floor. Capable, experienced, and comfortable at this level.
The Athletic’s transfer dealsheet backs that up, stating that United ‘previously considered’ Berge and could now reignite their pursuit on the back of his international displays.
Scott blocked, Tchouameni and Santos monitored
While Berge edges back into focus, United’s ideal scenario still appears to involve a younger, more long-term midfield cornerstone.
BBC Sport’s chief United correspondent Simon Stone has reported that Alex Scott has emerged as Michael Carrick’s top midfield target in recent weeks. Scott, a standout at Bournemouth, fits the modern profile: technically sharp, tactically intelligent, and with years ahead of him.
There is a problem. Bournemouth have made their stance clear to both United and Arsenal: Scott is not for sale. No negotiation, no softening of the message. For now, that door is shut.
That impasse has pushed United to explore higher-profile, higher-cost alternatives. The Athletic report that the club are prepared to move for Aurelien Tchouameni and Andrey Santos if the Scott pursuit stalls completely.
Tchouameni would be the statement signing. A €100m (£85m) midfielder, a cornerstone at Real Madrid, and exactly the kind of presence United have lacked at the base of midfield for years. But any move is contingent on one man: Jose Mourinho. If the Madrid manager decides Tchouameni is expendable, United are ready to open talks. If not, the conversation ends before it starts.
Santos, meanwhile, represents a different type of opportunity. Younger, less established, but highly rated. INEOS are showing strong interest in the Chelsea midfielder, and the player is understood to be open to a switch. The price, around £50m, is significant but not outrageous by current standards. United, though, have not yet begun formal discussions with Chelsea.
Limits in a distorted market
There are also lines United will not cross. Borussia Dortmund’s Felix Nmecha is admired, but his valuation – around €120m (£102.5m) – has effectively taken him off the table. In a summer already defined by huge outlays on midfielders across Europe, United are refusing to be drawn into every auction.
That is where someone like Berge becomes relevant again. Proven in the Premier League, performing on the international stage, and stylistically suited to stepping into United’s midfield without a long bedding-in period. He is not the fantasy signing, not the marquee name, but perhaps the kind of pragmatic addition that allows the rest of the project to breathe.
United’s recruitment team now stand at a familiar crossroads: chase the spectacular, or secure the sensible? With prices soaring and rivals already spending freely, their next move in midfield will say plenty about how INEOS intend to reshape this club – with fireworks, or with hard-nosed realism.
