Manchester United's priority this summer was quickly identified as a major midfield rebuild, with the centre of the park desperately in need of key depth ahead of a Champions League campaign.

With Casemiro leaving the club and Manuel Ugarte suffering a serious ACL injury with Uruguay at the World Cup, the need for midfielders has become all the more apparent.  Kobbie Mainoo is the only available senior central midfield option at the club.

It looked like United were moving quickly in the market, agreeing a deal with Atalanta for Éderson at the start of June. While a quick announcement was expected, a late Brazil call-up delayed the agreement. A medical exam after they were knocked out of the World Cup revealed he had been suffering from a meniscus problem, and the deal collapsed.

United acted quickly to make a secondary move, signing Chelsea's Andrey Santos for a £50 million fee, and are now assessing their remaining options to complete their midfield rebuild.

After the deal for Ederson fell through, United are set to re-enter the Serie A midfield market, targeting AS Roma star Manu Koné as they assess their backup options.

As reported by TEAMtalk, United aren't the only club expressing their interest in the 25-year-old, with Liverpool reigniting their interest in the Manchester United target.

Much like Andrey Santos, Koné is a very versatile midfielder, being comfortable playing as either a holding midfielder or a box-to-box player.

The outlet reports that the midfielder has been on Liverpool's radar for a number of years now, with their interest being piqued by his great development in Italy. Despite this, it looks like Manchester United have taken an early step forward in the battle between the two rivals, having contacted his agents, as well as being prepared to make a bid of £42.6 million.

The Roma midfielder is enjoying a great World Cup campaign for France, putting in a fantastic display against Morocco in the quarter-finals to book a place in the last four.

More importantly for United, however, is that he looked comfortable deputising for Aurélien Tchouaméni as the more defensive-minded midfielder in the French pivot alongside Adrien Rabiot.

This could make his transition to Old Trafford all the better, with Kone being able to partner Mainoo or play instead of the Englishman if he needed a rest. 

Andrey Santos and Kone are both versatile midfielders - perhaps the idea is to sign midfielder who are not hamstrung to just one role, allowing for more variety in United's play next season.