Manchester United have enjoyed a solid transfer window thus far, though their draw with Southampton on Sunday was a timely reminder that there are still plenty of issues within the squad to be resolved.
United looked toothless in attack when Anthony Martial was leading the line, but with Jadon Sancho still settling into life at Old Trafford, Edinson Cavani now back in training and Marcus Rashford yet to return from injury, it's safe to say this problem will likely be resolved in due course.
While United fans shouldn't lose too much sleep over their side's blunt attacking display, the problems in midfield are definitely cause for concern.
Both Fred and Nemanja Matic were ineffective against the Saints, with the pair making a number of mistakes when pressured by the Southampton frontline.
Going forward their lax passing meant that attacks became disjointed and United were ineffective for large portions of the game.
The trip to St Mary's proved that neither Fred nor Matic are the answer to United’s defensive midfield problems and so reinforcements are needed.
With the transfer market still open, there's still time for Ole Gunnar Solskjaer to address this area of weakness by making another marquee signing.
There's every chance the United boss is closely monitoring the performances of a number of Premier League midfielders, and two displays, in particular, will have caught his eye from the weekend gone by.
Neves could be the one
Ruben Neves, who started in Wolves' 1-0 defeat to Tottenham Hotspur, was a stand-out performer for his side.
Playing in the number-six role, the Portugal international had a pass completion of 81.4% and completed 16 of his 19 attempted long balls.
United looked at their most threatening on Sunday when Paul Pogba was cutting open the home side's defence with inch-perfect long balls, and had he had someone with Neves' range of passing alongside him United would have created far more chances.
Various reports have suggested the Wolves man is available for a fee within United’s budget, though it may be that a couple of outgoings need to be sanctioned before making another big-money signing.
Hopefully, the United midfield's poor performance against Southampton could spur the club into action.
Bissouma could be the missing piece
Another player who could fill the number-six role for United is Brighton midfielder Yves Bissouma.
The Mali international has only been loosely linked with United so far but he possesses many qualities which could benefit the club for years to come. He's intelligent in his marking, a tough tackler and his high-pressure style of play when out of possession has become a feature of the Seagulls' play.
This was evident at the weekend when he identified Watford were trying to play out from the back and he robbed the ball from Tom Cleverley before playing in Neal Maupay for a simple finish.
Signing Bissouma would allow Pogba and Bruno Fernandes to fully focus on the attack while their new teammate does the dirty work behind them.
He definitely won't come cheap with a fee of around £50million expected to be demanded by the south-coast outfit, but if United are serious about becoming Premier League title challengers once again then they're going to need to fix their midfield problems.
Solskjaer has been berated for his inability to secure silverware since taking the reins at Old Trafford back in December 2018, and if he fails to fully capitalise on the strong window he's had so far by not bringing in a defensive midfielder, the wait could be set to go on.
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