Manchester United's €48m Sangare miss could come back to haunt them

Manchester United's summer window is dragging, and nowhere has that frustration been more visible than in the club's search for another central midfielder. The early impression made by Andrey Santos has been encouraging for Michael Carrick, yet the same problem that hurt United last season remains: there simply aren't enough reliable bodies in the middle of the pitch. Casemiro left on a free transfer, while the expected move for Manuel Ugarte never gained real momentum after the Uruguayan sustained a serious knee injury. Youri Tielemans and Andrey Santos have come in, but the third midfield signing has not arrived. United need a runner, a player with genuine speed and volume who can cover the ground that this squad lacks, especially with Champions League football about to add another layer of congestion to the fixture list. That makes the decision to overlook Mamadou Sangare even harder to understand. Sangare was linked with United and Liverpool in June, yet it was Brentford who moved. The Bees agreed a deal worth €48 million for the Lens midfielder. Sangare is the kind of all-action presence United supposedly want. The 24-year-old delivered three goals and four assists in 29 Ligue 1 appearances last season, but his value goes far beyond those numbers. He won the second-most tackles in Ligue 1 with 54, ranked 11th in interceptions with 40 and was 26th in shots with 53. No other player in the division finished the campaign with at least 50 tackles and 50 shots. He did that while still settling in after joining Lens from Rapid Vienna for just €8m in mid-August, and he also lost a month to AFCON duty with Mali. His breakout form was recognized with the Marc-Vivien Foe award for the best African player in Ligue 1. Sangare explained his approach to RFI: 'I love going after the opponent. I've really improved in that area... I really enjoy that aspect of my game because it gives me real pleasure to win back possession.' He may not bring Casemiro's experience or natural class, but he brings a volume of work that United's midfield has been missing. There are echoes of Carlos Baleba, who joined Brighton from Lille for €27m in 2023 and later earned a €100m valuation. Sangare is arguably further along in his development. The risk for Brentford was limited because the fee was sensible. United were looking to operate in the €40-50m range, the same bracket where their move for Ederson fell through, and Sangare left for exactly that area of the market. His Estimated Transfer Value is only €13.6m, but his impact at Lens justified a multiple of that figure. By next summer, with Lens also heading into the Champions League, Sangare could easily be discussed as the Premier League's next €100m midfielder. The question is whether United will look back and wonder why they did not act first.