Man Utd ‘very concerned about signing Amorim favourites’ with four Sporting stars on shortlist

Man Utd are looking to avoid the same mistake they made with Erik ten Hag when Ruben Amorim takes over next week, according to reports.

The Red Devils sacked Ten Hag on Monday before moving quickly to appoint his successor in the form of Sporting Lisbon boss Amorim on Friday.

Amorim will officially start work on November 11 after his work at Sporting Lisbon is done, with the Portuguese coach then getting the whole of the international break to prepare his side for their match against Ipswich Town on November 24.

There were a number of reasons why Ten Hag eventually lost his job at Man Utd but signing players he was familiar with didn’t seem to help his cause.

Andre Onana, Matthijs De Ligt, Lisandro Martinez, Antony and Noussair Mazraoui all worked with Ten Hag at Ajax before joining the Dutchman at Man Utd during his two-year stint at Old Trafford.

Netherlands internationals Joshua Zirkzee and Tyrell Malacia were also signed by Ten Hag and there are rumours that Amorim wants some of his Sporting stars to join him at Old Trafford.

Football Insider claim that Sporting quartet ‘Viktor Gyokeres, Goncalo Inacio, Ousmane Diomande and Marcus Edwards are all on a long list of potential signings’ at Man Utd.

The report adds:

‘However, sources say there is unlikely to be a repeat of Erik ten Hag’s policy of signing former players, with the transfer team at Old Trafford set to make the decisions.

‘While Amorim will have some influence on the club’s transfer activity, and is expected to look to reunite with some former stars, he will not have the full say.

‘The board are said to be aware of the mistakes made under Ten Hag’s guidance, and are keen to avoid making the same errors again.’

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And former Everton chairman Keith Wyness insists that Man Utd will be “very concerned” about bringing in any of Amorim’s former players.

Wyness told Football Insider: “They’ll be very concerned about bringing Amorim’s favourites in.

“This is where Ashworth and Jason Wilcox have got to earn their money. They’ve got to put in place the cohesive style of Man United behind the scenes.

“It can’t be just based on the manager’s opinion. Amorim is obviously a talented manager, but he’s got to realise that he’s only one part of the bigger picture.

“They’ve got to try and avoid making the same mistakes they made with Ten Hag.

“If something goes wrong with Amorim, they can’t lose all the players he brings in.”

Gyokeres has been in incredible form for Sporting since moving there from Championship side Coventry City but Arsenal legend Paul Merson insists teams should think carefully before signing the Sweden international.

Merson told Sportskeeda: “I was in Portugal last year and they speak very highly of Ruben Amorim. He’s a good manager, but what he’s done there in Portugal, it’s a three-team league at the end of the day. This will be a completely different challenge.

“Now they’re talking of bringing Viktor Gyokeres in. This is what does my head in, honestly. He was playing for Coventry a while ago and no-one wanted him. Now he goes to a lesser league, does well and suddenly you have to pay £40-50million extra for him!

“Imagine if he was still at Coventry and United wanted him? Everybody will be losing their minds.”