Manchester United will complete a major transfer in the ‘next 24-48 hours’, according to journalist Andy Mitten.

Man United are planning wholesale additions to their squad this summer to ensure they are ready to compete in the Champions League alongside the Premier League, having had no European football to deal with this season.

It is no secret that the Red Devils’ big priority is to transform their midfield during the close season, with up to three new players arriving in the position to complement Kobbie Mainoo in the centre of the park.

Casemiro leaves a big void to fill after his outstanding performances alongside Mainoo under Michael Carrick’s leadership in recent months, while Manuel Ugarte seemingly looks likely to leave Old Trafford after failing to convince both Ruben Amorim and Carrick that he is worthy of a starting place.

While United could add new faces in different positions across the side, including in goal, at full-back, on the wing and in the centre-forward position, if other players leave, they appear to be focusing on midfield first.

The closest deal appears to be for Atalanta midfielder Ederson, with Fabrizio Romano revealing he is expecting it go through ‘unless something crazy happens’.

Andy Mitten: Ederson Deal Completed in Next 24-48 Hours

United We Stand editor and Athletic journalist Andy Mitten has gone one step further, revealing that he believes that the deal for Ederson will be completed in the next 24-48 hours.

Speaking on the United We Stand YouTube channel, Mitten provided an update on the deal from his information.

He said: “Manchester United and Atalanta of Bergamo do not yet have a full agreement for Ederson, the Brazilian box-to-box midfielder. However, I think, and I have spoken to people in Manchester, in Bergamo, and in other Italian cities, that an agreement is very, very close, so there’s been compromises.

“I fully expect that to be done within the next 24-48 hours.”

Manchester United are closing in on a deal to sign Atalanta midfielder Ederson, but he could be one of a number of midfielders to arrive at Old Trafford this summer, with another transfer close to completion, according to the Manchester Evening News.

Man United will seal a deal to bring Brazil international Ederson to Old Trafford ‘unless something crazy happens’, according to Fabrizio Romano, with personal terms already agreed for the 26-year-old to move to Old Trafford.

The Red Devils are expected to agree a deal with the Serie A outfit worth under £40m for the Brazilian, as they begin a major midfield rebuild this summer.

Casemiro is already confirmed to be leaving having struck up a successful relationship with Kobbie Mainoo during the second half of this season, with Manuel Ugarte expected to join him through the exit door if the club has their way.

Should that happen, Ederson could be one of three senior central midfielders to arrive over the course of the next few months, but they are also looking at bringing in young players who can make the grade too.

United have signed the likes of Diego Leon, Sekou Kone, Ayden Heaven and Chido Obi in recent seasons, and they are set to land another in Cristian Orozco.

Man United Will Sign Cristian Orozco in July

According to the Manchester Evening News, Manchester United will complete the signing of 17-year-old Colombian midfielder Orozco next month.

Last year, United reached a preliminary agreement with Fortaleza CEIF for Orozco to move to Old Trafford in this summer transfer window, given he couldn’t complete a move until he is 18 years of age.

The midfielder spent the remainder of the 2025-26 campaign at Fortaleza, but is now set to travel to England next month to complete a move.

Orozco was included in 11 Fortaleza first-team squads this season, making two starts and two substitute appearances in a breakthrough campaign.

Orozo Described as the ‘Next Casemiro’

While Man United are determined to land a big-money replacement for Casemiro this summer, they may already have their long-term replacement for the Brazilian in Orozco.

The 17-year-old has been described by scouts as the ‘next Casemiro’ according to one prominent statistician on X, given he is a midfield destroyer with progressive distribution and leadership maturity beyond his teenage years.

Orozco has already been shown around Carrington and Old Trafford in December, having been identified as an exciting sensation with potential to be a first-team player for the Red Devils in the future.

The signings of players like Kone, Leon and Orozco at low cost are seen as low-risk, high-reward signings for the club, which will supplement some of the big-money additions the club makes.

As well as Ederson and Orozco, United are still looking at other midfield options with West Ham United’s Mateus Fernandes, Newcastle United’s Sandro Tonali and Real Madrid’s Aurelien Tchouameni some of the names mentioned the most in recent weeks.

The Red Devils will hope to deliver Michael Carrick the squad he needs to compete strongly in the Champions League, while maintaining their Premier League position, next term.

Having revealed in January that he’d been diagnosed with stage-four cancer, the most severe category of the disease, Kevin Keegan returned to the public eye in remarkable fashion, appearing on stage at King’s Lynn’s Corn Exchange theatre looking, by all accounts, trim, sharp and full of the characteristic energy that made him one of the most beloved figures English football ever produced.

Keegan remains an enormously popular figure across the game, from Liverpool to Hamburg, from Newcastle to the England dugout, and when he walked back out in front of an audience, the warmth directed at him was palpable. He even addressed his prognosis with his trademark humour, recalling asking his consultant about his success rate (per The Telegraph):

Kevin Keegan Revisits Rant That Defined a Title Race

No evening with Keegan would be complete without someone asking about that moment, the one that’s been replayed thousands of times, the one that encapsulated the emotion of the 1995/96 Premier League title race in a single outburst.

When an audience member asked whether he regretted his infamous “I will love it if we beat them” rant, directed at Sir Alex Ferguson live on Sky Sports during the most intense period of Newcastle’s ultimately doomed title challenge, Keegan’s response was disarmingly honest. The first time he heard it back, he said, he barely recognised himself: “I said: who is that bloke? I just didn’t think it was me. It certainly didn’t sound like me.”

It remains one of the most iconic off-the-pitch moments in Premier League history. Newcastle had been 12 points clear at the top of the table and were being reeled in by Manchester United, with Ferguson publicly appearing to get under Keegan’s skin through a series of remarks about other clubs’ desire to compete.

When Keegan finally snapped, it effectively handed United the title. Whether that’s entirely fair is debatable, but the clip followed Keegan everywhere in the three decades since.

Kevin Keegan Admits he Simply Does not Like Sir Alex Ferguson

It was within the same answer that Keegan delivered perhaps the most candid line of the entire evening:

The rivalry between the two men during those extraordinary mid-nineties title races clearly left a mark that time hadn’t erased. Ferguson’s mind games, his public comments about Leeds United not wanting to hand Newcastle the title, and his relentless psychological pressure on Keegan during that period evidently left a lasting impression. An impression that Keegan, even now at 75, and having stared down a stage-four cancer diagnosis, has no interest in papering over.

He respects what Ferguson achieved, but it doesn’t mean he has to like him. And there’s something refreshingly honest about a man of Keegan’s stature being willing to say so out loud, even 30 years later.