Ferdinand identifies Man Utd's "two standout" transfer targets after latest blow

Former Manchester United defender Rio Ferdinand has identified Borussia Dortmund wonderkid Jude Bellingham and West Ham stalwart Declan Rice as two "standout" midfielders as Erik ten Hag's side pursue summer reinforcements.

United have been linked with a number of midfield targets, including former Ajax stars Frenkie de Jong and Christian Eriksen. However, a deal for Eriksen is yet to be announced and Chelsea have joined the De Jong race, so Ferdinand has thrown more names into the hat.

New manager Ten Hag has already made one addition to his squad, with left-back Tyrell Malacia joining from Feyenoord. Further recruits will be needed, though - especially in central midfield, with Paul Pogba and Nemanja Matic among those to leave the club at the end of the 2021-22 season. To that end, Ferdinand has picked out two ideal options for the Red Devils.

"[Rice] brings to us an element that I think has been lacking at Man Utd, and I think it's... for one so young... leadership and character," Ferdinand told his FIVE YouTube channel. "[He's] an absolute sponge of the game, educating himself all the time, always asks questions, always wants to know about x, y and z.

"That's the type of player, the type of character that Man Utd need in their squad," he added. "Similar could be said about Jude Bellingham, the character, the fact he's gone to another country at such a young age, 17, 18 years old and absolutely lit the world alight, Champions League - he smashed it in the Champions League for Borussia Dortmund.

"(He) plays well beyond his years, has character, intelligence, integrity, you can trust him on the pitch, he makes demands. I've watched him closely, he demands of other people at a young age, all these characteristics that I feel Man United need.

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"Again, I'm going away from, regardless if he's got the technical ability, which I think he has, don't worry. But I'm saying I don't even look at that too much, I look at the character, they're the reasons I'm buying you.

"The other stuff, the football stuff is brilliant, yeah, and you've got to have a certain level of that - I understand - but the overriding factor is the character. Them two (Jude Bellingham and Declan Rice) are the standouts in that sense."

Still, if United are to move for either midfielder, it will require either a big bid this summer or a wait of at least 12 months. Dortmund are after £103m for Bellingham, while West Ham's asking price for Rice is even higher.

United continue to be linked with a number of other names, though, while defensive target Lisandro Martinez could also end up being an option in the middle of the park. "At the beginning of the (2019-20) season, we were looking for a brain for central midfield. We knew Martinez had played there but could he do it in Ajax's system? We tried him there and we saw good things," Ten Hag said upon bringing the Argentine to his previous club Ajax.