Manchester United’s midfield rebuild leaves Carrick with no excuses

<p>Signings of Tielemans and Santos have addressed an area that has been problematic since the manager himself stopped playing</p><p>Ed Woodward to MUTV in July 2015: “When people see Bastian Schweinsteiger on the team sheet, that’s going to send some shivers down the spine.” This prediction by Manchester United’s then executive vice-president, about Louis van Gaal’s new midfield signing, proved to be badly off‑target as the World Cup-winner’s career at the club proved to be a disappointment.</p><p>Two years after Woodward’s bullish statement, Schweinsteiger departed for Chicago Fire with a paltry 35 appearances and two goals for United on his CV, having been forced to train for a while with the youngsters by José Mourinho, Van Gaal’s successor. Here, in microcosm, is the story of virtually all midfield recruits by United for a generation. The hope at the club is that this trend changed this summer, with the arrivals of <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/football/2026/aug/12/youri-tielemans-manchester-united-smelling-football">Youri Tielemans for £35m</a> from Aston Villa and <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/football/2026/jul/16/andrey-santos-manchester-united-chelsea-michael-carrick-brazil-midfielder-casemiro">Andrey Santos for £48m</a> plus £2m in add-ons from Chelsea, with the manager, Michael Carrick, also closing in on Brighton’s Carlos Baleba for a fee in the region of £70m.</p> <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/football/2026/aug/21/manchester-united-midfield-rebuild-michael-carrick-hull-premier-league">Continue reading...</a>