Schmeichel’s Call for Experience: Why United Should Sign Granit Xhaka

Manchester United’s summer rebuild has been framed as a hunt for youth, energy and upside. Kobbie Mainoo at the heart of it, fresh legs around him, a new midfield for a new era.

Peter Schmeichel wants something very different added to that picture: Granit Xhaka.

While supporters debate the merits of emerging names like Adam Wharton and Elliot Anderson, the former United goalkeeper has gone in hard for experience. Not just any experience, either. The 33-year-old Switzerland international, now the heartbeat of Sunderland’s midfield, is the player Schmeichel believes Erik ten Hag’s side cannot afford to overlook.

Xhaka left Bayer Leverkusen for Sunderland in July 2025 in a £17 million deal that raised eyebrows at the time. A former Arsenal lightning rod, moving to a newly promoted club, into a project that looked more hopeful than secure. A year on, the narrative has flipped.

Sunderland’s return to the Premier League has been one of the season’s more quietly impressive stories. The Black Cats sit 12th, safe, organised and still clinging to an outside shot at European football. Xhaka has been at the centre of it all, starting 29 league games and setting the tone in midfield.

Schmeichel, speaking on The Good, The Bad & The Football podcast, didn’t bother with half-measures. He argued United should build around Mainoo, accept Casemiro’s impending departure, and then make sure the youngster isn’t left to navigate the chaos of a Premier League midfield without a seasoned guide.

In his view, signing another talented prospect is not enough. United already have those. What they lack, he insists, is old-fashioned authority.

Apart from Harry Maguire and Bruno Fernandes, Schmeichel sees a dressing room thin on “proper leadership.” Xhaka, in his eyes, is the answer: a player who drags standards up, sets the tempo, and isn’t afraid to take responsibility when the game starts to fray.

The evidence, he says, is there every week at Sunderland. He credits Xhaka as the main reason the club have stabilised so quickly on their top-flight return, pointing to his influence, his availability and his ability to dictate games. This is not the explosive, error-prone figure Arsenal fans remember from his most turbulent years in north London. This is the mature version: hardened by setbacks, sharpened by success in Germany, now leading a young side in the North East.

United will get a close-up view of that transformation soon enough. A trip to the Stadium of Light next week offers the perfect scouting mission. Xhaka will almost certainly be there from the first whistle, patrolling the middle, snapping into duels, organising those around him.

Inside Old Trafford, the plan still leans towards youth. Wharton, Anderson and others of that profile fit the club’s recruitment strategy and ownership vision. They are younger, resale-friendly, and more aligned with a long-term rebuild.

Schmeichel is effectively challenging that logic. His argument is simple: Mainoo needs a seasoned partner, not another apprentice. A player who has lived through title races, relegation scraps and international tournaments. Someone who can absorb pressure when the temperature rises and still demand the ball.

Physically, Xhaka remains ready for the demands. With the 2026 World Cup approaching, he is maintaining peak condition to lead Switzerland on the biggest stage again. That only strengthens Sunderland’s hand. They know exactly what they have: a talisman, a standard-bearer and, increasingly, a valuable asset.

Letting him go would not come cheap. The fee would be significant, the risk for United obvious. Committing serious money to a 33-year-old goes against the modern trend, especially at a club that has been burned by big contracts for ageing stars before.

But this is where the debate becomes sharp. Do United double down on potential and hope leadership emerges from within? Or do they listen to one of their greatest former players and move for a veteran who has already reshaped one Premier League dressing room?

Next week’s meeting with Sunderland will not just be another league fixture. It will be a live audition, a test of Schmeichel’s conviction and perhaps a glimpse of whether United are finally ready to value experience as highly as promise.