Big-money target agrees £100,000-a-week deal with Man United

If any player should beat out Manchester United’s Bruno Fernandes to win the PFA Player of the Year award, it could be former target Declan Rice. The England star is leading the way at the Emirates.

In another life, the 27-year-old could have ended up at Old Trafford if things had played out differently. Ole Gunnar Solskjær has previously hinted that he was keen to sign the midfielder when he was in the United dugout.

As Gary Neville claimed last month, Rice is a ‘Manchester United player’, the type of player that the likes of Sir Alex Ferguson, along with Harry Kane, ‘would definitely have signed a long time ago’.

Sadly, Arsenal’s £105m star is currently shining brightly under manager Mikel Arteta instead, with United looking to ensure they sign a transformative midfielder this summer.

Midfield target agrees deal with Manchester United this summer

For the fourth time this season, the Red Devils played away to Sunderland without Casemiro in their starting XI. This is the fourth time this season that they have failed to win without the Brazilian.

This absence only further highlights why INEOS must get things right when it comes to succession planning this summer, with current deputy Manuel Ugarte, 34, looking to step down himself after two memorable campaigns at Old Trafford.

Elliot Anderson remains everyone’s priority target to replace Casemiro, but the Nottingham Forest star is thought to be close to heading to the Etihad, with an eye-watering £120m price tag being mooted.

With that in mind, a replacement player is needed and TEAMtalk reports that INEOS could already be close to making an early summer signing in the form of Atalanta’s Ederson.

According to reports, the Brazilian has already said yes to a £100,000-a-week move to Manchester, subject to United making a formal approach to the Serie A side.

Michael Carrick’s side are currently thought to be leading the race to sign the 26-year-old, ahead of Arsenal and Atletico Madrid, with his starting fee said to be around €45m (about £38.9m).

Why Ederson could be Rice at Man United at Old Trafford

Fernandes is still undoubtedly the Premier League’s star midfielder, with 19 assists this season, but Rice has become something of a talisman in his own right at Arsenal, a huge box-to-box presence in north London.

A weapon from set-pieces, the former West Ham United man has also emerged as an outlet for his own talents, creating up to 17 ‘big chances’ this season. This ranks third in the list after Rayan Cherki (18) and of course Fernandes (30).

But his key attribute remains his ability to steal the ball, particularly this season as he averages 2.8 tackles and interceptions per game and recovers the ball 4.9 times per outing.

Therein, the similarities with the aforementioned Ederson really show, with the South American returning to Italy and being hailed as ‘the best defensive midfielder in the world’, a true midfield machine.

In fact, the in-demand talent has averaged 2.8 tackles and interceptions per game so far in Serie A in 2025/26, although he is just behind Rice (4.4) in terms of ball recoveries.

At just 6ft tall, Rice may not be the physically imposing player, but like the Three Lions star, he is not easily surpassed, averaging just 0.6 dribbles per game this season, only slightly more than Rice (0.4) in the Premier League.

For comparison, United’s man of the moment, Casemiro, is dribbled past 1.4 times per game, highlighting the nagging concerns about his declining mobility that persist despite his goalscoring brilliance.

What also works in Ederson’s favor is how neat he is in possession. While he may not be a significant improvement in his career or as a passer, he boasts a respectable passing accuracy of 89%, still ahead of Rice (87%) and Casemiro (81%).

He is no slouch in attack either, scoring his second league goal of the season in the last game against AC Milan, and finished the 2024/25 campaign with his fourth league goal from playing deep in midfield.

Like Rice, he’s a “number six” in a trade, but he’s not necessarily locked into a specific position. He is another throwback midfielder who can influence developments all over the pitch, rather than just sitting quietly in front of the back four.

Just as Rice has provided under Arteta, Ederson could provide the mobility, dynamism and physicality that United’s midfield currently desperately needs.