Paul Scholes' Transfer Recommendations for Manchester United

Paul Scholes has never been shy about what Manchester United need. This time, he’s gone straight for the heart of the defence – and straight for one of the Premier League’s most combustible centre-backs.

Speaking on The Good, The Bad & The Football podcast, the former United and England midfielder insisted the club must prioritise a world-class central defender with serious international pedigree. His solution? A raid on Tottenham for Christian Romero.

“I think they sorted out the forward areas last summer but I think they probably need two centre backs,” Scholes said, before dropping the name that will divide dressing rooms and fanbases alike. “You might laugh at this and I might get stick for this, but I would go and sign Christian Romero from Tottenham.”

It’s a bold shout. Romero is as gifted as he is volatile, a World Cup winner with Argentina and a defender who plays permanently on the edge. Scholes knows exactly what comes with that package – and still wants United to take the plunge.

“I know he’s a nutter, I know he’s got disciplinary issues, but he can be a very good centre half and someone that Michael Carrick could really calm down,” he argued. “They’re talking about 30 or 40 million quid for a player who has been centre half in a World Cup final. I know he’s got disciplinary issues but I would go and get him. I think they’re desperate for a centre-back, the current ones aren’t good enough.”

Strip away the colourful language and the message is blunt: United’s existing options don’t convince him, and the club, in his eyes, can no longer tiptoe around the problem. Romero, with all the chaos and quality he brings, represents the kind of high-ceiling gamble Scholes believes they must take.

But his rebuild blueprint doesn’t stop at the back.

Having watched United miss out on Sandro Tonali, who chose Tottenham, Scholes turned his attention to the midfield and another ambitious target: Crystal Palace’s Adam Wharton. Fresh from helping Palace lift both the FA Cup and the Conference League, the young midfielder has rapidly become one of the most coveted talents in the country.

Wharton, Scholes believes, is tailor-made for the role at the base of United’s midfield.

Wharton is seen as the ideal fit for the pivot, a player capable of knitting play together and dictating tempo in big games. The problem is the price. Palace have slapped an £85m valuation on their playmaker, a figure that instantly turns any approach into a statement of intent rather than a routine deal.

That hasn’t dampened Scholes’ enthusiasm.

“I can’t believe they’re not trying to buy Adam Wharton,” he said on the podcast. “Sandro Tonali would have been my first-choice but with him gone now, Adam Wharton looks perfect to me.”

In Scholes’ eyes, the path is clear: an aggressive move for a battle-hardened, World Cup-winning centre-half, and a marquee push for one of the brightest young midfielders in the league. It’s a plan that demands conviction, money and a strong stomach for risk.

The question now is whether United share his appetite for that kind of overhaul – or whether these names become just another chapter in the club’s long list of transfer what-ifs.