One glaring problem this season, both before and after Ralf Rangnick took charge, is that Manchester United's midfield has been lacking.
Fred, Scott McTominay, Nemanja Matic and, when fit, Paul Pogba have all faced criticism for below-par performances this campaign.
A holding midfielder has long been the desire of fans, with West Ham's Declan Rice a key target and RB Leipzig's Amadou Haidara and Marseille's Boubacar Kamara also both linked with a move to Old Trafford.
Therefore, MEN Sport have taken a look at how the three compare to Rangnick's current crop.
Goals
Declan Rice - 3
Amadou Haidara - 3
Fred - 2
Scott McTominay - 1
Boubacar Kamara - 1
Paul Pogba - 0
Nemanja Matic - 0
Assists
Paul Pogba - 7
Declan Rice - 4
Nemanja Matic - 2
Fred - 2
Scott McTominay - 0
Amadou Haidara - 0
Boubacar Kamara - 0
Passes attempted per 90 minutes
Nemanja Matic - 73.74
Boubacar Kamara - 73.34
Paul Pogba - 62.96
Fred - 62.18
Amadou Haidara - 54.32
Declan Rice - 53.24
Scott McTominay - 51
Pass completion per 90 minutes
Boubacar Kamara - 89.8%
Declan Rice - 88.8%
Nemanja Matic - 88.4%
Fred - 87.2%
Scott McTominay - 86.9%
Paul Pogba - 84.1%
Amadou Haidara - 81.1%
Dribbles per 90 minutes
Paul Pogba - 1.8
Declan Rice - 1.5
Amadou Haidara - 0.9
Scott McTominay - 0.9
Nemanja Matic - 0.6
Fred - 0.3
Boubacar Kamara - 0.3
Key passes per 90 minutes
Paul Pogba - 1.6
Fred - 0.7
Boubacar Kamara - 0.6
Declan Rice - 0.6
Scott McTominay - 0.6
Nemanja Matic - 0.6
Amadou Haidara - 0.5
Interceptions per 90 minutes
Declan Rice - 1.7
Scott McTominay - 1.3
Fred - 1.2
Boubacar Kamara - 1
Nemanja Matic - 0.8
Paul Pogba - 0.7
Amadou Haidara - 0.7
Bad controls per 90 minutes
Paul Pogba - 2.5
Fred - 1.4
Scott McTominay - 1.3
Boubacar Kamara - 0.9
Declan Rice - 0.8
Nemanja Matic - 0.8
Amadou Haidara - 0.7
Unsurprisingly Rice comes away as the standout signing. His dribbles, assists and interceptions per game are much better than United's current options.
Haidara, at 23, and Kamara, at 22, are perhaps not quite at the level as Rice yet but, bar Pogba, it would be fair to summarise they would still improve the squad.
In the opposition box, RB Leipzig's Haidara is proving to be very handy this season while Kamara is starting to show good potential as a playmaker with good passing stats.
Manchester United return to action on Monday night when they host Aston Villa in the FA Cup third round.
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