Chelsea icon John Mikel Obi has weighed in the ongoing turmoil at Manchester United, and who they need to sign to replace Casemiro.
The midfielder, who controversially switched from United to Chelsea despite signing a contract to play for the Red Devils, thinks that a new midfielder is a priority for United.
‘I think they do need a midfielder, I think they are talking about Carlos Baleba, the guy from Brighton. Young player, I think he is fantastic, really good player. I think it will help Manchester United in terms of being that player they need, that we have in Caicedo for Chelsea.
‘I think they will need that sort of player because, trust me, Casemiro, I respect him, fantastic player. He’s a legend of the game. But sometimes, when your legs are gone, it’s gone. This is the Premier League. You can’t hide it. And you get found out in the Premier League very easily.
‘So for me, I respect Casemiro, but I think Manchester United do need another holding player.’
Since Jim Ratcliffe’s Ineos completed their partial takeover in early 2024, they have overseen the sackings of Erik ten Hag and more recently Ruben Amorim as well as financial strife behind the scenes resulting in redundancies.
John Obi Mikel being presented as a Manchester United player before switching to Chelsea in a controversial move
However despite spending over £200m in transfers, Mikel still believes that there needs to be more change to get the team back to winning ways.
‘Oooh I think they probably have to switch (laughs) the whole team basically. I just think the players at the football club, at some point you have to look at the players and not always the manager.
‘You have to look at the players and look at every individual – who’s the right, the player for this football club? Are they capable enough to represent Manchester United. Or do they need to… they’re in the rebuilding process as well, which is good for the club.
‘They’ve brought in a couple of new players, Mbeumo, Cunha – I think these are great players. But I think they need a few more, in the defence, they need to bring in loads of different defenders, I think if they want to start competing to win the league.’
Mikel believes that the club needs another radical overhaul of players with a replacement for Casemiro a priority
After all the upheaval at the club, Mikel thinks that a European spot for next year is a possibility, although a tough ask given the current state of affairs.
‘I don’t think they’ll make the top four. I think if they get into Europe (that’ll be a good result), I reckon they should finish around 8th, 9th, 10th place, because of the inconsistency at the football club.’
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