Ruben Amorim fears Manchester United need as many as six new signings to enable the club to start climbing the table again having identified the positions he needs to strengthen, his priority for the January window and the players he plans to build around after witnessing their 1-1 draw at Ipswich on Sunday.
The Red Devils opened up a new era at the club with an underwhelming 1-1 draw at Portman Road. While the point was enough to lift Manchester United up a position to 12th place in the Premier League, they remain six points adrift of the top four and the manner of the display only served to remind Amorim of the enormous task he now faces.
Indeed, with Roy Keane issuing a brutal assessment of where the club is at and of the rebuilding task that Amorim now faces, a report has claimed that the Portuguese coach has now told minority shareholder Sir Jim Ratcliffe and sporting director Dan Ashworth that he believes he needs to strengthen in six positions before the start of next season – and with an immediate priority for January also named.
Per Liverpool.com, Amorim would like to sign two centre-halves, a left-back, a new midfielder, a striker and a new winger to get the club upwardly mobile again and bring his new 3-4-3 formation to reality. As a result, he has challenged Ashworth and chief executive Omar Berrada to find the funds to bring all six additions to the club before the resumption of the 2025/26 season – giving them two transfer windows to make such signings.
And while sacrifices will likely need to be made by United to help fund all six signings, Amorim has told Ratcliffe and co that a new left-back has to be made their January priority with the long-standing fitness issues suffered by both Luke Shaw and Tyrell Malacia no longer simply being accepted.
United will prioritise the signing of Alphonso Davies, who will become a free agent next summer with his contract at Bayern Munich expiring. And while they may have to wait for his signing – something Amorim is prepared to do – a decision on his future is likely to be made early in the year with Real Madrid also sniffing around his signature.
Should the Spanish giants win that particular transfer battle, Amorim will instruct United to sign either Bournemouth’s Milos Kerkez or seal a deal to re-sign Alvaro Fernandez Carreras from Benfica. Either way, it’s claimed Amorim wants clarity on the position come the end of the January window.
Amorim’s mega-money Man Utd shopping list revealed
Sources have confirmed to TEAMtalk that United do have an interest in bringing Carreras back to the club, though have stressed that any clause in his deal over his return can only be triggered in the summer. To that end, they have no option to re-sign the 21-year-old in the winter window.
Bournemouth, meanwhile, are also aware of the growing interest in their young Hungarian star Kerkez, though do hope to keep him until the season’s end. Liverpool are also keen on the 21-cap star as they seek a long-term heir to Andy Robertson at Anfield.
The biggest prize of them all, however, is Davies and our sources have detailed the sizeable offer they have put to the Canadian to try and tempt him to choose Old Trafford over the Bernabeu.
While it remains to be seen if funds will be available for another arrival in January – and much will depend on what is decided with regards a new left-back, Amorim is also reported to be prioritising on two new centre-halves.
Both Jonny Evans and Victor Lindelof will leave in 2025 at the end of their deals, if not sooner, while there are also long-term question marks over Harry Maguire.
And while all of Leny Yoro, Matthijs de Ligt and Lisandro Martinez are considered safe, Amorim is reported to have placed Everton’s Jarrad Branthwaite and Sporting’s Ousmane Diomande high on his wanted list
The lack of goals continues to concern Amorim and a summer move for Viktor Gyokeres is expected to take priority at United, with the 39-year-coach desperate to reunite with the Swede, who has struck an incredible 69 goals in 67 games since joining the Portuguese giants.
Gyokeres and Diomande are not the only Sporting stars Amorim wants to reunite with either and TEAMtalk can also confirm that a move for young winger prodigy Geovany Quenda is also possible with the teenager’s agent, Jorge Mendes, actively trying to move him on.
Amorim would also like a new midfielder and it’s understood that United will hope to seal the return of Angel Gomes – possibly as a long-term replacement for Casemiro whose high wages mean the club are desperate to cut loose – as soon as the January window.
As far as long-term suitability to his project, Amorim believes the likes of Andre Onana, Yoro, Martinez, Kobbie Mainoo, Mason Mount and Bruno Fernandez are perfectly suited to his system. The manager is also pleased to reunite with Manuel Ugarte, while INEOS also consider Alejandro Garnacho and Rasmus Hojlund as unsellable assets.
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To help fund such arrivals, sacrifices will have to be made and the biggest of these could yet be Marcus Rashford.
Despite scoring the first goal of the Amorim era on Sunday, our reporter Rudy Galetti claims the 27-year-old is far from settled right now and the club would be open to his sale should a sizeable offer for his services land on their desk.
Furthermore, Galetti claims PSG are very much ready to reactive their pursuit of the 60-cap England star and have already been ‘in contact’ over a possible move and with boss Luis Enrique keen to find an upgrade for Goncalo Ramos.
He may not be the only forward to leave, either, with Joshua Zirkzee featuring high on Juventus’ wanted list and with the Italian giants already drawing up a strategy for how they can poach the striker away from Old Trafford.
On the incomings front, it’s been claimed United are strongly keen on two signings from Atalanta with both their Brazilian midfielder Ederson and English winger-turned-striker Ademola Lookman also high on their wishlist.
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