Brighton pair Moises Caicedo and Alexis Mac Allister on Manchester United radar

Moises Caicedo and Alexis Mac Allister in action for Brighton

Brighton pair Moises Caicedo and Alexis Mac Allister on Manchester United radar

Stephen Oladehinde 10:54 - 09.04.2023

Manchester United are eyeing Brighton duo Moises Caicedo and Alexis Mac Allister as they look to strengthen their midfield in the summer.

Erik ten Hag has his eye on a central midfielder for the Manchester United team this summer after Casemiro and Christian Eriksen were sorely missed. Moisés Caicedo and Alexis MacAllister are among the players the United manager has identified as prospective additions.

While Casemiro served his four-match suspension and Christian Eriksen was sidelined, Ten Hag utilised Bruno Fernandes as a deep-lying midfielder to good effect. But along with a striker, he sees it as one of his key areas to improve.

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Manchester United looks to strengthen in the summer

Last summer, United made an attempt to sign Frenkie De Jong from Barcelona, who had previously worked with Ten Hag at Ajax. However, the Netherlands midfielder chose to remain in Barcelona, where he has been an important contributor to Barca's push toward the La Liga title.

The two Brighton midfielders are both on the radar of the Red Devils who have other midfielders on their shortlist. The January transfer window saw Caicedo, a Colombian midfielder, try to join Arsenal, but Brighton turned down their proposals to the league leaders.

The 21-year-old has since extended his contract with Brighton through 2027, while teammate Mac Allister signed a new one in October.

Ilkay Gundogan's contract is about to expire, and Manchester City is looking to sign the World Cup champion because a new contract has not yet been reached for him. During the tenure of former Brighton manager Graham Potter, Chelsea was also rumoured to be interested in him.

Ten Hag welcomes competition for Manchester United midfielders

In central midfield, Ten Hag would hope to add more bodies to his midfield. His top picks are Casemiro and Eriksen, who are backed up by Scott McTominay.

Speaking after the game against Brentford, Ten Hag said, “When you miss players you have to find solutions as a manager. 

“When Casemiro and Eriksen were available there was no need to bring Bruno down but when you miss them you have to bring a solution from the back to bring the build up, progress the ball to attack. We found the idea to bring Bruno down more deeper and he's doing brilliant, he's playing brilliant games.”

Meanwhile, Manchester United boss Erik Ten Hag has blamed the hectic scheduling of the Premier League for the injury suffered by star forward Marcus Rashford in their 2-0 win over Everton