Manchester United explore shock move for England midfielder: report

Manchester United’s busy summer in the transfer market was just the first step of what will likely be a lengthy rebuild process.

This summer saw Sir Jim Ratcliffe and his new regime driving the club’s transfer policy for the first time and there has already been a significant shift away from the previous regime’s philosophy as the club look to move away from signing veteran players on huge salaries – and even plan a new stadium .

The five new faces brought in this summer had an average age of 23 years old, and while the latest player to be linked with the club would come with more experience, he is seen as a value option.

Manchester United linked with January move for midfield talent

According to a report from Spanish outlet Fijaches , the Red Devils are pondering a January move for Leicester City midfielder Harry Winks .

The club are keen to add another face in midfield, despite the summer signing of Manuel Ugarte, with sporting director Dan Ashworth said to see former Spurs star Winks are a relatively cheap option.

Winks joined Leicester in the summer of 2023 and has rebuilt what was a flagging career with the Foxes, playing a key role in their Championship-winning campaign last season and playing every minute of their Premier League season so far. FourFourTwo voted him as the tenth-best player in the second tier earlier this year.

No fee is mentioned in the report, but Winks was a £10million signing for Leicester just over a year ago, a figure in line with his current valuation on Transfermarkt .

Winks was touted for a bright future when he broke through at Tottenham and made his England debut in 2017 and would go on to make ten appearances for the Three Lions, the last of which came in November 2019, before injury began to derail his progress.

As he began to find opportunities limited at Spurs, he spent the 2022/23 season on loan at Sampdoria, but this move was not made permanent after the Italian side were relegated from Serie A and he then moved to the King Power Stadium.

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In FourFourTwo’s opinion, Winks has had a productive last 18 months and it’s been good to see him get his career back on track, but should he be happy to join Manchester United in what would likely be a back-up role?

Ugarte’s signing means that he is likely to partner Kobbie Mainoo in the middle of the park at Old Trafford for the foreseeable future and while Winks has the ability to play in a number of midfield roles, does he want to be a bench-warmer at this stage of his career?