{"id":787860,"date":"2026-02-25T10:50:18","date_gmt":"2026-02-25T10:50:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/787860\/"},"modified":"2026-02-25T10:50:18","modified_gmt":"2026-02-25T10:50:18","slug":"rio-ferdinand-picks-between-elliot-anderson-and-adam-wharton-for-man-utds-key-midfield-signing","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/787860\/","title":{"rendered":"Rio Ferdinand picks between Elliot Anderson and Adam Wharton for Man Utd’s key midfield signing"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"\/ Add as preferred source on Google <\/a> <\/p>\n

Rio Ferdinand has weighed in on a debate over whether Manchester United should sign Elliot Anderson or Adam Wharton to bolster the midfield this summer.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Manchester United<\/a> will be in the market for midfielders this summer following the news that Casemiro will be leaving Old Trafford<\/a>.<\/p>\n

It won\u2019t be easy to identify a replacement for Casemiro<\/a>, who signed for United in 2022 with five Champions League<\/a> triumphs under his belt from his time at Real Madrid, but there is no shortage of options, with several Premier League<\/a> stars under consideration. <\/p>\n

What is your message to Michael Carrick after the win vs Everton? <\/p>\n

\"\"Getty Images <\/p>\n

Those targets include Brighton\u2019s Carlos Baleba<\/a>, Nottingham Forest\u2019s Elliot Anderson<\/a>, and Crystal Palace\u2019s Adam Wharton<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\"ElliotPhoto by Jon Hobley\/MI News\/NurPhoto via Getty ImagesRio Ferdinand urges Man Utd to sign Elliot Anderson over Adam Wharton<\/p>\n

Anderson and Wharton are two players United have been heavily linked with to replace Casemiro.<\/p>\n

The Brazilian veteran remains a constant feature in the line-up, with Michael Carrick<\/a> opting to partner Casemiro with Kobbie Mainoo<\/a> in the middle of the pitch.<\/p>\n

Former United defender Rio Ferdinand<\/a> believes Anderson would be a better fit for the Red Devils because of the physicality he would bring to the team, whereas he fears that Wharton is too similar to Mainoo.<\/p>\n

\u201cElliot Anderson I would love to have him at the football club, 100 per cent,\u201d Ferdinand said on Rio Ferdinand Presents<\/a>. \u201cHis energy, his physicality. He knows the league.<\/p>\n

\u201cAdam Wharton, I\u2019ve spoken about him; maybe he might be too similar to Kobbie Mainoo. We then lack a little bit of physicality in the midfield area with him in that sense.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019d lean on Elliot Anderson this season, the way he\u2019s played, his traits would suit, blend with Kobbie Mainoo.\u201d<\/p>\n

These are players of similar age and quality, who play the same position, but they\u2019re different in terms of strengths as Ferdinand accurately points out.<\/p>\n

You have \u00a3100m to spend on a midfielder \u2013 who are YOU buying, Elliot Anderson or Adam Wharton? <\/p>\n

Or is there another realistic player you would sign instead? Let us know who!<\/p>\n

\"AndersonGetty Images <\/p>\n

Anderson not only brings more physicality to the table, but his ability to bring the ball forward is also second to none, especially as a carrier. Wharton is renowned for his final ball in and around the danger zone.<\/p>\n

Elliot Anderson is the most in-form Premier League midfielder<\/p>\n

According to WhoScored<\/a>, Anderson is currently the most in-form midfielder in the Premier League.<\/p>\n

The young England international has earned an average rating of 7.55 in his last six appearances, despite the fact Forest are relegation contenders.<\/p>\n

Anderson is not letting Forest\u2019s struggles this season get in the way of his progress as a player in the top-flight.<\/p>\n

There will be no shortage of interest in Anderson, whether Forest stay up or suffer relegation back to the Championship.<\/p>\n

Forest have a run of tough fixtures coming up. They will be relying on players like Anderson to save them from the drop.<\/p>\n

Join Our Newsletter<\/p>\n

Receive a digest of our best United content each week direct to your mailbox<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Add as preferred source on Google Rio Ferdinand has weighed in on a debate over whether Manchester United…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":787861,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4100],"tags":[9877,79185,94,15038,79,16,15],"class_list":{"0":"post-787860","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-football","8":"tag-adam-wharton","9":"tag-elliot-anderson","10":"tag-football","11":"tag-rio-ferdinand","12":"tag-sports","13":"tag-uk","14":"tag-united-kingdom"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/116130888264327211","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/787860","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=787860"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/787860\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/787861"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=787860"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=787860"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=787860"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}