Manchester United are on the hunt for a midfielder before the start of next season and an opportunity is coming to sign Atalanta’s Éderson.
Ruben Amorim’s team has lacked control and bite in central midfield in the opening few months of 2025–26, with Manuel Ugarte notably not doing enough to impress the manager. Kobbie Mainoo is also struggling to command regular game time, with starts in that area of the pitch predominantly going to Casemiro, who lacks the mobility of yesteryear, and the more attack-minded Bruno Fernandes.
United were reported just this week to have compiled a seven-strong shortlist of midfield options with a view to signing at least one by the end of the summer transfer window. All on that list bar Stuttgart’s Angelo Stiller are Premier League-based, or have prior Premier League experience.
But Atalanta’s Éderson is emerging as a separate opportunistic possibility due to a contract in Bergamo that expires in 2027 and currently doesn’t look as though it will be renewed.
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The 26-year-old Brazilian was previously valued by Atalanta at as much €75 million (£65.7 million, $86.9 million) but could now be sold in 2026 for less than half that amount.
Representative André Cury has specifically talked up a move to Barcelona, where the Brazilian agent has close contacts—he helped take Neymar to Camp Nou in 2013, with Philippe Coutinho, Yerry Mina, Arthur and Paulinho among many other clients involved with the club. But finding a new team for Éderson on a bigger stage than Atalanta appears to be the primary motivation.
Talking up Éderson’s “physicality and stamina,” Cury said to Cadena SER: “It’s an opportunity because his contract is expiring. Atalanta hasn’t wanted to sell him despite receiving very high offers. I think they’ll complete the transfer in this winter or summer window.”
He added: “[Atalanta were asking for] a lot of money, between €60 million and €75 million. He’s close to the end of his contract, they could reduce his price by half, to between €30 million and €40 million, but he’s a spectacular player with some of the best stats in Europe for his position.”
‘Box-to Box’ Éderson Built for the Premier League
After bouncing around a handful of clubs in Brazil, Éderson made the switch to Europe in 2022 when he joined Italian side Salernitana and was poached by Atalanta within a matter of months. He helped the club win the Europa League in 2023–24 and consistently finish in Serie A’s top five.
Although Cury has hyped the idea of joining Barcelona, his attributes appear a more natural fit for the high intensity of the Premier League—and what Manchester United are crying out for.
“He has two main strengths,” Tiago Nunes, Éderson’s former manager at Corinthians, told Sky Sports in 2024. “Firstly, on the pitch, he has great physical strength, with the ability to play box-to-box, back and forth, sustaining the pace of the game. Secondly, he has a very strong mentality, with a very clear awareness of what he wants.”
Nunes continued, “I see him playing as a box-to-box player, a midfielder who isn’t really someone to build the game but more of a player who can break through lines, get into the final third, progress up the field. I see him more as a midfielder with the freedom to get forward.
“I think he has the characteristics to play a more purposeful game or a transition game. He has the ability to link up and find the best interpretation of space in a shorter game in short spaces, but he also has the physical ability for a high-speed transition game.
“He has the ability and the physicality to handle the pace of the game. He is a very vertical player with a lot of pace in the final third of the pitch. This is a player with very particular characteristics who can develop even more in a league as strong as the Premier League.”
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This article was originally published on www.si.com as ‘It’s an Opportunity’—Man Utd Learn Bargain Price of Midfield Target.
