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Man Utd have made an offer for Sporting Lisbon youngster Geovany Quenda ahead of the January transfer window, according to reports. The Red Devils sacked Erik ten Hag at the end of last month after a terrible run of form spelled the end of the road for the former Ajax boss. Man Utd moved quickly to hire Sporting Lisbon boss Amorim with the Red Devils announcing in a statement that the Portuguese coach would join on November 11.
Amorim took charge of his final Sporting match on Sunday with the Portuguese top-flight leaders beating Braga 4-2 to extend their lead at the top of the table to six points. And with Amorim arriving in Manchester on Monday, the Portuguese coach can now get to work on deciding his formation and tactics , meet the players and start forward planning. There have already been lots of rumours about who Amorim could ask Man Utd to sign in the next couple of transfer windows as he looks for support in the market.
Viktor Gyokeres has been the most heavily linked Sporting player – but a more realistic addition would be teenage winger Quenda , who made his first Liga Portugal appearance in August and scored his first league goal at the end of October against FC Famalicao. And now Portuguese newspaper A Bola claim that Man Utd have made ‘an initial offer of less than 40 million (£33m)’ for Quenda but that ‘it remains to be seen how much they will have to raise to convince the Sporting management’. Sporting recently increased Quenda’s release clause from €45m to €100m after ‘they anticipated the arrival of millionaire clubs, especially from the Premier League’.
Speaking before leaving for Man Utd, former Sporting boss Amorim promised: “I won’t [look for players from Sporting ] in the January transfer window , that’s what I said.” But ‘the truth is that the Premier League club’s desire [in Quenda] predates the hiring of the 39-year-old Portuguese coach and the first inquiries came even before the change of coach’. The report adds: ‘The idea is to secure Quenda now , who will continue to play for the Lions until the end of the season and move to the north of England in the summer.
’ MORE ON MAN UTD FROM F365: 👉 Man Utd duo set for ‘less of a role’ under Amorim as two January targets are identified 👉 Ranking Ruben Amorim’s 12 ‘first signings’ by chance of *actually* being his first Man Utd signing 👉 Man Utd star ‘wants’ transfer to Real Madrid or Barcelona after being told to ‘get a job somewhere else’ Former Arsenal and Chelsea midfielder Emmanuel Petit is “not totally convinced” that Alejandro Garnacho, Amad Diallo and Marcus Rashford are good enough to impress under Amorim. When asked if Amorim can handle the pressure at Man Utd, Petit told Instant Casino : “Mourinho was the same, remember, when he left Portugal. The same questions were asked about him.
Can he do it in the Premier League? He won many trophies. He was one of the best managers for at least a decade. “I won’t say that Amorim will change Manchester United’s fortunes straight away.
With what’s happening at Manchester United, it will take time, but I have the feeling that he can change a few things this season and start to build towards success. “For me, the quality of players at Manchester United in some positions is not good enough. Starting from the midfield, I think they need to add quality players and wingers as well.
“I’m sorry, but I’m not totally convinced about Garnacho, about Amad, Rashford. He’s got a lot of work to do. “He can change a few things, starting with the tactics, which will bring more confidence back to the team.
“I think he can also give the Manchester United fans something that they have been waiting ages for: attacking football. He can get them to play the way they used to with attacking players that come at the opponent like waves. That’s exactly how he plays with Sporting.
“If you look at Sporting playing, they are very enjoyable to watch. He needs to bring back the joy at Manchester United. He needs to bring back the joy on the pitch, and if he can do that, he can change things.
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