Manchester United’s midfield search has already moved through one expensive miss. Mateus Fernandes went to Tottenham after they agreed to pay £85million, and Manchester United have now turned to Alex Scott as the shortlist keeps changing. The club have also looked at Carlos Baleba, Aurélien Tchouaméni, Felix Nmecha and Elliot Anderson.

The prices United are rejecting

The issue is not a lack of names. It is the scale of the fees and valuations around them. Manchester Evening News reported that United were never going to cough up £85million for Fernandes, while the same report said Scott is now on the radar as another alternative.

That does not make Scott cheap. Bournemouth value him at around £80m and his contract runs until 2028. Ben Jacobs said Scott is high on United’s list, but Bournemouth are reluctant to sell and want to extend his deal.

United’s own position helps explain why this keeps stalling. They finished 3rd with 71 points and scored 69 league goals, so the urge to strengthen is obvious. The market, though, keeps pushing the next midfielder into the same expensive bracket.

Scott’s form and Bournemouth’s stance

Scott is not being tracked on reputation alone. He has averaged 7.1 across his last five Premier League matches, with ratings of 7.6, 7.2, 7.0, 7.5 and 8.5. That is a solid run, and it makes sense that United would view him as a live option rather than a pure fallback.

But Bournemouth’s position is the bigger obstacle. The club do not appear minded to let him go easily, and the 2028 contract means this is unlikely to be a simple negotiation. On the evidence available, United are shopping in a market where the obvious alternatives are either too expensive or not available.

Written by Jack Mercer with AI-assisted research, cross-checked against 9 outlets. How we work →