Manchester United identify their main summer target and are confident they will get him

Planning ahead.

When Roy Keane left Manchester United, there was a desperate need to fill the huge gap in his wake. Of course it was impossible to get a like-for-like replacement for a once-in-a-generation force of nature like the Cork man. In the end they plumped for mild-mannered Michael Carrick from Tottenham Hotspur, which raised a few eyebrows. Carrick was hardly in the same mould as Keano, and initially suffered unfairly from comparison, but over time the West Ham graduate forged his own story at the Theatre of Dreams, and is now considered a bona fide Old Trafford legend. After a trophy-laden 12 years at the club, the 36-year-old is set to hang up his boots at the end of the current season. Now the hunt is on to replace the England man as the steady metronome of the United side, and fans of the club will be pleased to know that Jose Mourinho has earmarked just the man. The Manchester Evening News report that the player in question is Borussia Dortmund's Julian Weigl, with the club in confident mood that they'll get their man. Despite only being 22 years of age, Weigl is widely acknowledged as a stellar talent, with an unerring sense of position and tactical nous that belies his tender years. It is not for nothing that he is favourably compared to Sergio Busquets, and shares the Barcelona man's ability to control the tempo of a game from deep in midfield. There are also comparisons with Carrick, in that he has a similarly impressive range of passing. His short game is short, crisp and reliable, whilst his sweeping long-range passes are breathtaking at times. Certainly his talents would lend themselves to a side with such pacey counter-attacking players as Anthony Martial, Marcus Rashford and Alexis Sanchez. Weigl fits the Mourinho profile for a midfield operator in that he is 6ft 2in, and certainly doesn't shirk a challenge. His strong defensive allied with a consummate ability to launch attacks from deep would compliment the likes of Paul Pogba and Nemanja Matic well. Any move for Weigl will surely command a fee north of £50m, but it will be money well spent if he can fill the immense gap left by a club servant as classy and consistent as Carrick.