Ruben Amorim is so enthralled with a current Manchester United star that the club’s transfer plans have been altered, with a different type of signing now on the agenda rather than a ‘readymade’ £70m addition, according to a report.
It’s been anything but smooth sailing for Man Utd since Ruben Amorim took charge, though a handful of players have stood up tall from day one in the Portuguese’s reign.
Amad Diallo has been nothing short of sensational regardless of whether he plays as the right-sided No 10 or at right wing-back.
Further back, Harry Maguire has been a commanding presence as the middle centre-back in the back three.
Rewind the clock to before Amorim’s appointment and it was beginning to look like Maguire’s time at Old Trafford was coming to an end.
His contract was due to expire at the end of the 2024/25 campaign and Matthijs De Ligt and Lisandro Martinez were the preferred pairing under Erik ten Hag.
It’s been all change for Maguire since Amorim’s appointment and his superb form prompted Man Utd to trigger their one-year option in Maguire’s contract on January 3.
And according to a fresh update from The Daily Mail, Amorim has been wowed by Maguire to such a degree that the club have altered their transfer plans for the centre-back position next summer.
It’s claimed that if Maguire were to have left at season’s end, United would have been in the market for a ‘readymade’ addition who could come straight into the starting line-up.
Everton’s Jarrad Branthwaite – valued at £70m and a transfer target last summer – was namechecked as a player United would have explored going back in for.
But with Maguire now staying, United are content to enter next season with he, Leny Yoro, De Ligt and Martinez as their primary centre-back options.
And rather than be forced into splashing the cash on a high profile player, United will now go on the hunt for a ‘younger centre-back with potential.’
While those players don’t exactly come cheap, they don’t cost the £70m-type figures it would’ve taken to have a shot at signing Branthwaite. As such, United will now be able to funnel their summer resources into other, arguably more pressing positions.
And if wing-backs tailor-made for Amorim’s 3-4-3 system are signed, the report concluded current full-backs, Luke Shaw and Noussair Mazraoui, will double up as cover for the left centre-back and right centre-back positions respectively.
Latest Man Utd news – Milos Kerkez, Alejandro Garnacho
In other news, one left wing-back Man Utd WON’T be able to sign, according to the i paper, is Milos Kerkez.
That’s because the outlet claimed Liverpool are ‘set to beat’ Man Utd to the signature of the Bournemouth and Hungary ace.
Full details in that story – including who United will reportedly target instead – can be found here.
Elsewhere, FootballTransfers state Tottenham are prepared to table a £60m bid for Alejandro Garnacho.
The winger – also a target at Napoli – is available for sale as Man Utd seek to raise funds to overhaul Amorim’s squad.
United aren’t actively pushing Garnacho out, though with TEAMtalk learning United’s valuation of the player is in the £60m-£70m range, a Spurs bid around the £60m mark could be enough to seal a deal.
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