New incoming Manchester United boss Ruben Amorim is already planning to brutally axe a member of the Manchester United squad, with a departure coming as soon as January, according to one report.
Amorim takes control at Old Trafford
Following a successful interim spell in charge from Ruud Van Nistelrooy, Amorim officially took charge of Manchester United on Monday. Though he has the remainder of the international break to work with his side, his task looks daunting, with the club languishing in 13th place in the Premier League, only just above struggling West Ham United.
His first clash will be a trip to Portman Road to take on newly promoted Ipswich Town, who recorded their first win of the season in their last outing and will be looking to spoil his Manchester United start, while games against Arsenal and Manchester City also lie in the near future for Amorim.
Manchester United’s upcoming Premier League fixtures |
Ipswich Town (Away) |
Everton (Home) |
Arsenal (Away) |
Nottingham Forest (Home) |
Manchester City (Away) |
All this comes against the incoming boss implementing a new style of football at Old Trafford, with Amorim widely expected to revert to a back three as he did to such great effect at Sporting CP, though he has promised not to sign any stars from his former club in January.
That is likely to spell good news for the likes of Manuel Ugarte, who worked with Amorim at Sporting and is well suited to his system, but there are concerns about who will fill the wide areas in the immediate term, while it also leaves the likes of Mason Mount and Alejandro Garnacho without natural positions in the side.
January is expected to be busy therefore, and now it has emerged that Amorim is already prepared to axe one player.
“Magnificent” midfielder up for sale
That comes as reports in Spain claim that the new Manchester United boss is ready to part ways with Casemiro as early as the January transfer window. The Brazilian midfielder has not enjoyed life in Manchester in the last 12 months, and was strongly linked with a move away from the club in the most recent summer transfer window.
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Manchester United fans will be desperate to see him play under Ruben Amorim.
Nonetheless, Erik ten Hag was always a fan of the ex-Real Madrid man, dubbing him “magnificent” back in January 2023. “Casemiro is magnificent. In front of the back line, always taking good positions, in and out of position, and he can deal with the ball, he can give the right pass”, the ex-Man Utd boss explained.
But he is now 32-years-old and he sits among Manchester United’s highest earners, taking home a massive £350,000 a week (£10.5m per year), something that Sir Jim Ratcliffe and co. will not be wanting to pay someone who Amorim chooses to name among the substitutes regularly.
And as a result, it is reported by Sport that Amorim has already told the Brazilian to look for another club as soon as January, though they will not let him leave for free as they look to recoup some of the massive £60m they paid Real Madrid to sign him two years ago.
With Casemiro down to the final 18 months of his contract at Old Trafford, they are unlikely to recoup a massive fee for him any time soon, but given his wage demands, it may be for the best that the Red Devils just cut their losses.
