Manchester United are open to bringing in midfield reinforcements on loan during the January transfer window, with the former Chelsea player attracting attention as he looks to return to England.
Ruben Loftus-Cheek does not play regularly for AC Milan (Image: Claudio Villa/AC Milan via Getty Images)
Manchester United have been offered the chance to sign Ruben Loftus-Cheek after the former Chelsea player fell down the pecking order at AC Milan.
Despite the changes to the dugout, the Red Devils initially told Michael Carrick they would not be open in the new year. That stance may change now that the club’s leaders are open to acquiring loan players.
Last week it emerged that United were in preliminary talks with a “mystery midfielder” who has Premier League experience and is currently based overseas.
Loftus-Cheek ticked these boxes, moving to Chelsea, Crystal Palace and Fulham before signing with Milan in the summer of 2023.
However, talkSPORT reports that Loftus-Cheek is keen to return to England after his minutes at the San Siro have been drastically reduced, although talks over a move to Manchester are at an early stage, with the club trying to gauge the level of interest.
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Loftus-Cheek was part of the Premier League and Europa League winners during his time at Chelsea and brings notable experience to the Manchester team, while also showing his versatility over the years and was recalled to the England squad in October.
United remain firmly in contention to qualify for the Champions League and are also discussing the possibility of signing Wilfred Ndidi. The former Leicester midfielder currently captains Besiktas but wants to return to England for football and family reasons.
Carrick was able to extract a great level of performance from his team in his first game as United shocked Manchester City on Saturday. Casemiro and Koby Mainu started in midfield as academy players overlooked by the previous regime. Carrick has talked about him before and could play a key role going forward.
The midfielder previously won the title with Chelsea (Image: CameraSport via Getty Images)
United are reluctant to do business in January because the players they are targeting are currently unavailable. The club have shortlisted Brighton’s Carlos Baleva, Crystal Palace’s Adam Wharton and Nottingham Forest’s Elliott Anderson.
These three players are highly valued by their clubs and clubs will be reluctant to let them go. It is expected that at least some of them will look to move on to new challenges at some point, but availability is likely to play a big role in who the Manchester side end up targeting in the summer.
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