Manchester United are ready to spend in the region of £150million to sign three central midfielders this summer if there is enough room in the transfer budget.

Daily Mail Sport understands that United have earmarked around £80m for a marquee signing to replace Casemiro, who will leave at the end of his contract despite hopes among some fans that he could extend his stay at Old Trafford.

United know their No 1 target Elliot Anderson is likely to cost in excess of £100m, and Manchester City are in pole position to sign the Nottingham Forest star.

Brighton’s Carlos Baleba, Adam Wharton of Crystal Palace, Newcastle midfielder Sandro Tonali and Real Madrid’s Aurelien Tchouameni are other names in the frame, although United’s interest in Tonali has cooled slightly and Tchouameni wants to sign a new contract at the Bernabeu.

United are prepared to spend around £40m on another midfielder to replace Manuel Ugarte if they can get a reasonable price for the Uruguayan who cost £50m from Paris Saint-Germain two years ago.

West Ham’s Mateus Fernandes has emerged as a player of interest, and Bournemouth duo Alex Scott and Tyler Adams would also fall into that category.

Despite tying Kobbie Mainoo to a new long-term contract, United could strengthen their squad by signing a third midfielder for about £20m. It’s understood that scouts have been monitoring the progress of Southampton’s Shea Charles.

However, it will depend on how much money is available with United expected to bring in a left-sided forward, left-back, central defender and a reserve goalkeeper in the summer.

The club will have considerably more to spend after confirming their return to the Champions League by beating Liverpool on Sunday, which is worth in excess of £100m.

United also hope to bank significant transfer fees for Rasmus Hojlund, Marcus Rashford, Andre Onana, Ugarte and, possibly, Joshua Zirkzee while creating additional space on the wage bill by offloading Casemiro, Jadon Sancho, Tyrell Malacia and Altay Bayindir.

Jeremy Doku insisted Manchester “will keep on fighting” in the Premier League title race despite their “painful” draw with Everton on Monday.

City drew 3-3 with the Toffees at Hill Dickinson Stadium, with Doku scoring a 97th-minute equaliser, having also scored the opening goal.

Doku’s equaliser (96:49) is City’s third-latest goal on record (since 2006-07) in a Premier League game after John Stones’ strike against Arsenal in September 2024 (97:14) and Gabriel Jesus’ goal against Everton in February 2019 (96:52).

Doku has had a hand in six goals across his last five games for City in all competitions (four goals, two assists), as many as in his previous 22 games combined (one goal, five assists).

The Belgian also created the most chances in the match against Everton (four), completed the most dribbles (5/7) and won the most duels (14/19).

City avoided defeat in a Premier League game despite trailing by 2+ goals as late as the 82nd minute for the first time since March 2012 against Sunderland (3-3).

They went on to win the league title in 2011-12, and Doku believes City can still beat Arsenal to the trophy this season.

“First half, we played well and created a lot of chances. We know if we don’t score those chances, it is going to get difficult at the end,” said Doku.

“Obviously, they are at their own stadium, they create chances, and they are dangerous, and they scored two goals, but I think we gave them the game.

“Good that we came back because one point is not bad in games like this.

“We will see. It feels painful now. There is still a lot of games to go. We lost two points, but we know that one point can be important at the end.

“We will keep on fighting. We owe it to ourselves and to our fans.”

A Federal High Court in Abuja has fixed May 28 to hear a lawsuit asking the Nigeria Police Force to reopen the investigation into the death of late singer, Ilerioluwa Oladimeji Aloba, popularly known as Mohbad.

The case was filed by the Break the Silence Foundation. They are asking the court to order the police to carry out a fresh and thorough investigation into how the singer died in September 2023.

The group wants the police to question everyone who was with Mohbad during his final moments. This includes his wife, Omowumi Cynthia Aloba, his close friends, and his father, Joseph Aloba.

The foundation also raised concerns about why the singer was buried so quickly without getting permission from the police first. They want the court to make sure that anyone found responsible for his death is arrested and charged.

During the court sitting on Monday, lawyers for the group confirmed that they had successfully sent the legal papers to the police. Justice James Omotosho then agreed to hear the matter later this month.

The death of the 27-year-old musician caused a lot of pain across Nigeria, and many fans are still waiting to find out exactly what happened to him. This new court case is another step toward justice for the late star.