Ruben Amorim is awaiting his first summer window as Red Devils boss. (Photo by Carl Recine/Getty Images)
Manchester United are approaching one of their most crucial transfer windows of recent years. If they get it wrong, you can only imagine how the side will fare next season.
Having gone all out for Ruben Amorim last October, INEOS now have no choice but to fully back the coach with sufficient signings to fit his newly implemented system.
Ayden Heaven and Patrick Dorgu, the only two acquisitions under Amorim thus far, have been resounding successes based on what fans have seen from them.
In line with that, offloading players deemed surplus to requirement is equally imperative. United stand to recuperate around £25 million through Jadon Sancho’s impending move to Chelsea, while they could also earn £40m if Aston Villa opt to make Marcus Rashford’s deal permanent upon the culmination of the term.
There’s a general acceptance from Jim Ratcliffe’s end that signings made prior to his arrival haven’t panned out exactly how he’d have hoped. The likes of Antony and Rasmus Hojlund are two who’ve struggled to really cement their status as prolific attackers, although the latter has shown promise on far more occasions than his Brazilian counterpart – currently on loan at Real Betis.
The state of play with struggling Hojlund
Hojlund being only 22 years old means he’s been granted more time to refine his goalscoring abilities, albeit he should be doing so under the guidance of a more experienced strike partner. Whether or not he’ll continue improving his game at Old Trafford, however, remains to be seen.
That’s because a fresh report from Gazzetta dello Sport has claimed the Danish international is attracting interest from second-placed Serie A giants Napoli. ‘First exploratory talks’ have been held, with United reportedly outlining a £51m valuation – a direct £13m loss on what they forked out for him in 2023.
It’s thought Hojlund ‘would gladly’ return to Italy, where he spent one season in 2022/2023 with Atalanta and scored nine goals in 32 appearances.
