Paul Scholes Calls for Manchester United to Sign Christian Romero and Adam Wharton
Paul Scholes has rarely been shy about what Manchester United need. This time, he’s gone straight for the jugular: rip up the defence and build it around a World Cup finalist.
Speaking on The Good, The Bad & The Football podcast, the former United and England midfielder argued that Michael Carrick’s side must prioritise a genuinely elite centre-back – and named Christian Romero as the man to anchor the rebuild.
“I think they sorted out the forward areas last summer,” Scholes said, before cutting to the real issue. “But I think they probably need two centre backs. You might laugh at this and I might get stick for this, but I would go and sign Christian Romero from Tottenham.”
That is not a gentle suggestion. It is a challenge to the club’s current hierarchy and, by extension, to the defenders already in place. In Scholes’ eyes, the existing options simply do not match the level Carrick is trying to reach.
Romero is a provocative choice. Brilliant, volatile, impossible to ignore. Scholes knows exactly what comes with the Argentina international, and he didn’t try to gloss over it.
“I know he’s a nutter, I know he’s got disciplinary issues,” he admitted. “But he can be a very good centre half and someone that Michael Carrick could really calm down. They’re talking about 30 or 40 million quid for a player who has been centre half in a World Cup final. I know he’s got disciplinary issues but I would go and get him. I think they’re desperate for a centre-back, the current ones aren’t good enough.”
That line lands hardest. “Desperate.” For Scholes, this is not a luxury signing, not a marginal gain. It is structural surgery. A World Cup final defender, at a fee he clearly views as reasonable in the current market, to bring authority and edge to a back line he simply does not trust.
But his prescription for United doesn’t stop at the back.
If Romero is the enforcer, Adam Wharton is the organiser. Scholes believes United missed their ideal midfield signing when Sandro Tonali chose Tottenham, and he cannot understand why the club have not pivoted aggressively towards the Crystal Palace playmaker.
Wharton’s stock has risen sharply. The young midfielder has just helped Palace lift both the FA Cup and the Conference League, stepping into high-pressure games with a composure that has caught the eye across the league. Scholes sees a natural fit for the midfield pivot Carrick wants.
Wharton, though, will not come cheap. Palace have placed an £85m price tag on their prize asset, a figure that turns any interest into a statement of intent rather than a routine deal. It is the kind of fee that forces a club to decide exactly who it wants to be.
Still, Scholes is adamant.
Continuing on the podcast, he said: “I can’t believe they’re not trying to buy Adam Wharton. Sandro Tonali would have been my first-choice but with him gone now, Adam Wharton looks perfect to me.”
Two signings. One snarling, battle-hardened centre-half from Tottenham. One refined, trophy-winning young midfielder from Palace. Between them, Scholes sketches out a spine he believes could drag United back towards the standards he once took for granted.
The question now is not what he thinks. It’s whether anyone at Old Trafford is brave enough to act on it.
