The genius Man Utd and Newcastle United fantasy swap deal that makes total sense for both clubs

Let’s start this article with a caveat – the deal we’re about to discuss isn’t happening. Not because it’s especially implausible, at least compared to all of the other bizarre deals that take place in football, but because it would involve Manchester United owning up to a mistake at the first opportunity, and that hasn’t really been in their wheelhouse for a while now. It would also involve Newcastle United giving up a fan favourite to a potential future rival for the top four. But still, despite all the many reasons that this won’t happen, it would make perfect sense, and would resolve key weaknesses for both sides.

The transfer in question is a swap deal that would see Newcastle’s midfield battleship Bruno Guimarães go one way, and United’s rather forlorn summer signing Mason Mount go the other. Now, before any Newcastle fans reading go into conniptions over the very concept, we should probably add that our hypothetical slice of horse trading would see some cash going to St. James’ Park too – but we should also explain what we’re getting at.

Let’s start with Newcastle’s problem, or at least the other problem, the one which isn’t about all of the injuries they’ve endured over the past few months. Since Eddie Howe took over, they have essentially played with a midfield three consisting of players who have more or less the same profile and role – box-to-box, with the expectation that they will get back to force turnovers in front of the defence before galloping up in unison to get the ball up to the front three as quickly as possible. It’s simple, direct and has been extremely effective.

One issue is that having a fairly one-note midfield is fairly easy for opposing teams to figure out, and opposing teams have been doing that more effectively of late. Managers aren’t pressing Newcastle so hard through the middle any longer and are instead closing up the spaces in behind their own midfields and asking Newcastle’s immensely energetic but not especially creative players what they’re going to do next.

The other concern is that when those midfielders get fatigued, as they understandably have done lately, it has a seriously deleterious effect on their output. It’s hard to keep shuttling up and down the field when you haven’t got the juice. Just look at the way Bruno played against Liverpool in last week's 4-2 defeat – he was, for perhaps the first time in a Newcastle shirt, a complete non-factor in the game and simply couldn’t get up and down the field fast enough to do his job.

So, Newcastle need something new in their midfield – someone who can pass his way through the lines when running fails, someone who can play the number ten role but also ply the channels and give the Joelintons and Longstaffs of the world someone to pass to. That just so happens to be exactly what Mount is very good at.

Lest we forget – Mount is a very good player indeed, just one that never made any sense for United. United didn’t need a number ten because they had Bruno Fernandes, and it’s obvious that Erik ten Hag hasn’t got the faintest idea what to do with former Chelsea man. Instead of using him in the role in which he flourished at Chelsea, finding half-spaces around the edge of the area and presenting a goal threat and creative outlet, when fit he has been used as a midfield shuttle-runner despite not having the ability to generate the turnovers and make the endless quick ball-carries that are needed in that kind of position.

Bruno, on the other hand, would be ideal in that role. He can turn the ball over and carry it forward at pace. He does have the speed, endurance and passing range to suit a direct style of play. United currently tend to pick the ball up from deep before trying to play it forward as quickly as possible, leaving the midfield stranded. Bruno’s industry and dribbling skills would allow them to be direct while also offering an extra body in attack.

But why would Newcastle let Bruno go to facilitate such a move? Well… they won’t, most likely, but if reports that Paris Saint-Germain are lining up a summer move for the Brazilian are true, then they face the prospect of losing him sooner or later anyway. It’s also worth noting that if Newcastle did move to a more fluid midfielder set-up, they’d logically want to keep the box-to-box man that was the best at winning the ball back, and that’s Joelinton rather than Bruno. The former Lyon man isn’t bad at forcing turnovers by any means, but it isn’t his greatest strength by any means.

So really this is just about the need for two teams to recognise the need for change in their midfields. Newcastle’s is predictable and can’t realistically keep up their work rate all season long, especially when injuries and European football add to the strain. United’s is poorly constructed from a tactical stand-point and needs some pace and directness behind Fernandes. Newcastle need guile, while United need some grit and energy. Both have what the other need.

Still, I don’t blame Newcastle’s ownership for not exactly queuing around the block to make a trade like this happen. For starters, Tyneside would be up in arms. There would be violent upheaval in the streets, although in fairness that’s just what the Bigg Market looks like on a Friday evening rather than anything related to Mason Mount. But they do need to realise that their midfield needs something more than just an extra body or two – and their counterparts at Old Trafford need to acknowledge that their recruitment over the past 18 months or so has been an incoherent mess, some of which should probably be undone. And as for Mount himself – let’s be honest, he deserves better.