Manchester United interim manager Ralf Rangnick has instructed the club to keep tabs on Kalvin Phillips, Jude Bellingham and Amadou Haidara.
Rangnick took charge at Old Trafford at the end of last month and will lead the team from the touchline for the remainder of the season.
He will then work as a consultant for a further two-year period, as United attempt to make up the ground they have lost since Alex Ferguson's retirement in 2013.
Rangnick has not been in the job for long but he has already identified midfield as an area of the squad that needs strengthening.
This was seen as one of United's biggest weaknesses under Ole Gunnar Solskjaer, and Paul Pogba's probable departure next summer makes the situation even more urgent.
According to ESPN, Rangnick pointed to the engine room as an area of weakness in his very first interview with United.
The German made his feelings known in talks with football director John Murtough, technical director Darren Fletcher and executive vice-chairman Ed Woodward.
He has since urged the club's scouts to watch Phillips, Bellingham and Haidara ahead of potential January moves.
None of Leeds, Borussia Dortmund or RB Leipzig will want to lose their respective talents in the middle of the campaign.
But a deal for at least one of the midfielders could be done next summer, and Rangnick wants to gather as much information as possible on all three of them.
The interim boss is also likely to make use of United's academy for the remainder of the campaign, as he attempts to lead the Red Devils into the top four.
He handed senior debuts to the 18-year-old duo Charlie Savage and Zidane Iqbal in Wednesday's 1-1 draw with Young Boys in the Champions League.
Neither teenager will be involved when United face Norwich on Saturday, but Rangnick has already made it clear that he is willing to give opportunities to academy graduates.
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