And Mason Mount has signalled he's willing to drop into a deeper role to help fill the gap left by Casemiro's release and Manuel Ugarte's serious knee injury at the World Cup — leaving Kobbie Mainoo as the club's only fit senior central midfielder.
It comes at an awkward moment for United's rebuild elsewhere. Talk of the Ederson deal collapsing, sparked by an Italian reporter's claims on Friday, has been knocked down by sources inside the club, who maintain the £35m move from Atalanta is still alive, reports The Sun.
More concrete progress has come with Andrey Santos: Manchester United have struck a £50m agreement with Chelsea for the 22-year-old, who started 13 Premier League games last season and thrived once Liam Rosenior took charge in January, when 17 of his 25 top-flight starts came. The pair have crossed paths before, with Rosenior having taken Santos on loan at Strasbourg.
Mount's own stock has risen sharply since the turn of the year. His displays in United's last two matches of the season — a goalless draw with Sunderland and a 3-0 win away at Brighton — went some way to convincing manager Michael Carrick that his work rate and adaptability are worth building around, regardless of whether he lines up in his favoured attacking role or drops deeper to shield the back four. It's a reversal for a player United signed from Chelsea in 2023 specifically to partner Casemiro, despite Mount being a creator by instinct rather than a natural holding midfielder.
With Mainoo not due to link up with the squad until United's Dublin training camp opens on 9 August, Mount is expected to lead the line in central midfield when pre-season training gets underway. Mainoo's absence stems from an unusual World Cup so far — he's one of only three outfield England players, alongside Trevoh Chalobah and Ivan Toney, yet to feature at the tournament, with Thomas Tuchel opting to push Reece James into midfield rather than turn to him during the quarter-final win over Norway.
Late arrivals from World Cup duty aren't unprecedented at United — Fred reported for pre-season back in 2018 before his mandatory rest period had even finished. With the first pre-season fixture against Wrexham in Helsinki on Saturday, the pressure is building to get the Ederson, Santos and Karl Darlow deals over the line, though club sources remain confident all three are still achievable.