Rio Ferdinand has encouraged Manchester United to make Nottingham Forest’s Elliot Anderson their primary midfield target ahead of the likes of Bruno Guimaraes and Sandro Tonali.

The Red Devils have identified central midfield as their key area of focus ahead of the upcoming transfer window having spent around £200million to overhaul their misfiring attack last summer.

Old Trafford bosses had also been keen to bring in a central midfielder to fit Ruben Amorim’s much-maligned 3-4-3 system last summer – and a host of names were linked, including Adam Wharton, Carlos Baleba and the £100m-rated Anderson.

Brighton even confirmed that United made an ambitious approach for Baleba before the transfer deadline, only to simply ‘go away’ when informed the Cameroon international was not for sale.

Though uncertainty remains surrounding Michael Carrick’s position in the hot seat, work is ongoing behind the scenes at United to explore ways in which the squad could be bolstered in the middle of the park.

The need for reinforcements was made even more clear when Casemiro confirmed that this season would be his last at United, with the veteran Brazilian distancing himself from any suggestion of a possible U-turn.

Reports emanating out of Spain last...