7 hours Ago By Steve Bates
Past Manchester United managers may have seen splashing the cash as the only route to success. But Ruben Amorim already knows it’s not all about money at Old Trafford. The default position in bad times has been a spend, spend, spend mindset that’s seen the club burn through more than £1.
3 billion in recent years to end up worse off than before. Sir Jim Ratcliffe knows that’s an unsustainable model as United gear-up for a different future. Get your questions in, and I will personally reply to three (3) of them in GIVEMESPORT's Daily Newsletter on Monday, December 23rd.
Be sure to subscribe to the newsletter so you don't miss out.Here we go! And it’s emerged that one of Amorim’s key messages in discussions before he succeeded Erik ten Hag left Ratcliffe so highly impressed it was a decisive factor in the 39-year-old coach getting the job. Amorim was keen to stress one significant driver in his style of coaching and management - improving players without always resorting to the transfer market.
After years of seeing promising young players fail to fully develop into successful United stars that was music to Ratcliffe’s ears. Ratcliffe Warns Amorim Ahead of January Transfer Window Ratcliffe has already warned Amorim that United don’t have a bottomless pit of money and with Profit and Sustainability targets on the limit, the Portuguese coach will have to largely work with what he’s got. The January market hasn’t yet been declared off limits, but Amorim knows unless he can make a compelling case it’s likely he’ll have to wait until the summer for his own reinforcements.
That’s why the early weeks of his reign have seen Amorim and his coaches working hard on Amad’s development with training ground sources revealing the winger has been the most adaptable to the new methods. At £19 million from Atalanta almost four years ago, 18-year-old Amad wasn’t cheap - but he looks to be coming good after being largely ignored by ten Hag. Amad has shown a clear desire and willingness to learn and implement exactly what Amorim wants.
The same can be said of Kobbie Mainoo, Mason Mount and Manuel Ugarte too. Rashford and Garnacho Pay the Price of New Amorim Era But it’s no coincidence that the two players at the centre of the latest United storm, Marcus Rashford and Alejandro Garnacho, have been less than totally receptive to Amorim’s new era - and they have paid the price. In a club interview after winning the Puskas accolade at The Best Fifa Awards 2024 for his breathtaking overhead kick at Everton last season, Garnacho showed no joy and didn’t smile.
Sources say he’s still stung by Amorim’s decision to exclude him from the squad that won at Manchester City but demeanour is everything to the new United coach who watches his players like a hawk. Amorim and his coaches see huge potential in Garnacho but believe his temperament and application are more volatile than Amad who is seen as a grounded youngster hungry to learn. Garnacho is still a golden asset who can’t be allowed to go the same way as former England striker Rashford.
The duo are United’s most valuable stars but Amorim has non-negotiable standards for his dressing room and Rashford and Garnacho have been in breach of those. Rashford's Man United Record in Last Three Seasons Season Appearances Goals 2022-23 56 30 2023-24 43 8 2024-25 24 7 Rashford’s race looks to be run at United but Garnacho isn’t being viewed as a lost cause, far from it. But the dilemma for Amorim is a big one.
Does he cash in on the pair to fund a move for his own type of players - including Sporting striker Viktor Gyokeres - or gamble on molding Rashford and Garnacho into the top class players they could be. With the demand for success at United a constant expectation, time isn’t on Amorim’s side. Ratcliffe Sees Mazraoui as Blueprint for Future United Signings Sir Jim Ratcliffe is holding up the successful transfer of one summer import as a blueprint model for future signings.
Noussair Mazraoui is already proving a bargain buy from Bayern Munich at just £12.8 million - and a reliable one at that. GIVEMESPORT Key Statistic: Amad Diallo (7.
24) and Bruno Fernandes (7.10) are the only United players rated higher than Mazraoui (6.96) out of 10 by WhoScored this season.
While players around him continue to drop with injuries, the versatile Mazraoui has been ever-present playing all 25 games since his arrival. For context, that’s more than Luke Shaw has played in the past two seasons. Gabriele Biancheri Impressing Ruben Amorim Alongside Chido Obi-Martin While Ruben Amorim’s first team strikers struggle to regularly score, the junior ranks at Manchester United are having little trouble showing their seniors the way to goal.
And it’s not just 17-year-old former Arsenal sensation Chido Obi-Martin who is grabbing the limelight. Welshman Gabriele Biancheri grabbed a hat-trick to Obi-Martin’s brace in the 5-0 FA Youth Cup win over Coventry this week. Biancheri has now scored eight goals in six appearances in the Under-18 league and has already attracted the interest of Amorim and his coaches along with Obi-Martin.
It’s an indicator that United’s production line of talent is still in full flow. Amorim though, is fully focused on his first team pool and sources say he isn’t looking to upgrade any of United’s top youngsters just yet. Fabrizio Romano says Manchester United are already working on signing their next young talent with a deal for 17-year-old Diego Leon now complete.
All statistics according to WhoScored and Transfermarkt - correct as of 22-12-24..
