Paul Scholes Names Manchester United's Summer Transfer Priorities

Paul Scholes has drawn a bold red circle around Manchester United’s summer priorities – and he’s named names.

Speaking on The Good, The Bad & The Football podcast, the former United and England midfielder argued that Michael Carrick’s side cannot move forward without a transformational signing at centre-back, and he went straight for one of the Premier League’s most combustible defenders: Cristian Romero.

“I think they sorted out the forward areas last summer but I think they probably need two centre backs,” Scholes said, before dropping the headline suggestion. “You might laugh at this and I might get stick for this, but I would go and sign Christian Romero from Tottenham.”

That’s not a cautious punt. That’s Scholes nailing his colours to the mast.

He wants a world-class defender with scars from the very top level, and Romero fits that bill. The Argentina international has already marshalled a back line in a World Cup final, and Scholes believes that kind of pedigree is exactly what United’s current crop lack.

“They’re talking about 30 or 40 million quid for a player who has been centre half in a World Cup final,” he said. “I think they’re desperate for a centre-back, the current ones aren’t good enough.”

Of course, Romero is as famous for his wild streak as his tackling. Scholes didn’t dodge that. He embraced it.

“I know he’s a nutter, I know he’s got disciplinary issues, but he can be a very good centre half and someone that Michael Carrick could really calm down,” he argued, convinced that Carrick’s measured touch on the training ground could tame the defender’s more reckless impulses without losing his edge.

The message was clear: United need steel, personality and experience at the heart of their defence, and Scholes is prepared to gamble on fire to get it.

Wharton the midfield answer after Tonali miss

Scholes didn’t stop at the back line. He turned quickly to midfield, where he sees another glaring opportunity that United are, in his view, inexplicably passing up.

“I can’t believe they’re not trying to buy Adam Wharton,” he said, clearly baffled. For him, the Crystal Palace midfielder has become the obvious solution after United missed out on Sandro Tonali, who chose a move to Tottenham.

Tonali, Scholes admitted, would have been his first choice. With that door closed, though, his focus has shifted fully onto Wharton, who has just helped Palace to an extraordinary double: lifting both the FA Cup and the Conference League.

That kind of breakthrough season has rocketed Wharton’s value. Palace have reportedly put an £85m price tag on the young playmaker, a figure that turns any interest into a major statement of intent rather than a routine piece of business.

Pricey? Absolutely. But Scholes clearly sees a player made for the role.

Wharton, he believes, is tailor-made for the midfield pivot that United have struggled to perfect, a modern controller with the legs and intelligence to dictate games at the highest level. “Sandro Tonali would have been my first-choice but with him gone now, Adam Wharton looks perfect to me,” he said.

So the Scholes blueprint is blunt and ambitious: pay for a World Cup-hardened centre-back, even if he needs calming down, and fight for one of the most coveted young midfielders in the country, even if the fee makes eyes water.

United, in his eyes, are past the stage of half-measures.