Man Utd face race against time to sign perfect Ederson alternative

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Tom Weber | Writer

Multilingual sports writer who specialises in European football and American soccer.

Manchester United are facing a race against time if they wish to sign Stuttgart midfielder Angelo Stiller.

The Red Devils are scouring the market for their third midfield signing of the summer. On Monday, Andrey Santos officially arrived from Chelsea, while Youri Tielemans completed a surprising move from Aston Villa on Tuesday after the club decided not to sign Atalanta star Ederson.

Neither was considered a key target for Man Utd at the start of the window, but the nature of the market has evidently forced the club to change their transfer plans. Due to the high demand for elite midfielders and the relative scarcity of available options, prices have exploded.

Compared

Andrey Santos

M, DM (C)

Man Utd

Andrey Santos

M, DM (C)

Man Utd

VS

Youri Tielemans

M, DM (C)

Man Utd

Youri Tielemans

M, DM (C)

Man Utd

€49.3M	ETV	€35.2M
€44.4M - €54.3M	ETV Range	€31.7M - €38.7M
22 years old (03 May, 2004)	Age	29 years old (07 May, 1997)
Brazil	Nationality	Belgium

Man City have shattered their club record to sign Elliot Anderson for around €135 million, while they are also pursuing Ayyoub Bouaddi, despite Lille raising his price tag from €70m to up to €100m.

Because Man Utd need quality depth ahead of their return to the Champions League, they have refused to let themselves be drawn into bidding wars for marquee midfielders and instead tried to do more reasonable deals, paying €58m for Santos and €41m for Tielemans.

Stiller's clause expires today

On Tuesday, The Athletic revealed Man Utd's midfield shortlist, which currently consists of four players: Alex Scott (Bournemouth), Felix Nmecha (Borussia Dortmund), Carlos Baleba (Brighton) and Sander Berge (Fulham).

What is discernible is that Man Utd do not have a clear midfield profile they are targeting, as also evidenced by the signings of Santos and Tielemans. It was previously thought that the club would look to add a top-quality, like-for-like replacement for Casemiro, but that is evidently not the case.

The four players on their shortlist are very different. Nmecha, for example, can hardly be compared to Berge. It appears that Man Utd are just intent on beefing up their options and raising the team's floor rather than trying to directly resolve a positional need.

They could keep their powder dry until next year, when the midfielder market will hopefully have calmed down, before signing their next truly superstar midfielder who can raise the ceiling.

It is very surprising that the name of Stuttgart midfielder Angelo Stiller has not come up more in recent weeks regarding Man Utd's potential transfer business. He is an eminently affordable option and a player the Red Devils' recruitment department is familiar with.

Man Utd have been keeping tabs on the Germany international for years and reportedly looked into a deal in 2025. Stiller has consistently impressed for Stuttgart, including in 2025/26.

Stiller has a release clause in his contract believed to be worth around €40m, although BILD reports that it's closer to €36.5m. In today's market, that is an absolute steal for a high-level midfielder.

It is quite bizarre that Stiller still has this clause because Stuttgart have the ability to remove it by paying the player a compensation fee worth between €3.5m and €4m. To date, they have not done so, and perhaps for good reason.

Evidently, no suitors have so far come forward with the intention of triggering that clause, and BILD now reports that Stuttgart would be silly to pay Stiller a fee unless there actually is a threat of someone using this exit mechanism.

That's because the 25-year-old's clause is not active all summer. In fact, the tabloid claims that it expires today, Wednesday. So, unless there is late movement for Stiller, Stuttgart will be able to freely negotiate his price.

This would damage Man Utd's chances of getting a bargain deal for him because the Bundesliga side won't offer any discounts on their star midfielder. And with his contract still valid until 2028, they are not yet under any pressure to sell.

The German outlet reports that Man Utd scouted Stiller in the flesh on numerous occasions last season. However, there have been no concrete talks over a deal to date, and as things stand, he won't be moving to Old Trafford - at least not for €36.5m.