Sporting CP manager Ruben Amorim will take over the reins at Manchester United after the Premier League side sacked Erik Ten Hag earlier this week. Amorim, 39, who is a legendary figure at the Lisbon club, has already said his goodbyes before moving to England.
Meanwhile, reports suggest that the Manchester United management is likely to give Amorim a free hand to deal with the current squad. They have identified three players who are not to be sold under any circumstances by the Portuguese manager. The three are Alejandro Garnacho, Rasmus Hojlund and Kobbie Mainoo.
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This means none of the senior stars including captain Bruno Fernandes or long-serving attacker Marcus Rashford are at risk of being benched or the worse. Another report, meanwhile, said that Amorim has decided on four players who he wants to offload at the earliest.
According to a news report, while Mainoo, Garnacho and Hojlund remain untouchable, Amorim is already in the process of discussing his tranfer market plans with the decision-makers at Old Trafford. He has identified four players who are not part of his project in the long run and won't mind selling in the January window.
The four United stars that "don’t interest" Ruben Amorim are winger Antony, defender Victor Lindelof and midfielders Casemiro and Christian Eriksen.
The Scandinavian duo of Lindelof and Eriksen can't expect an extension once their contracts run out at the end of the current season, TEAMtalk said in a report. As for Brazilians Antony and Casemiro, both signed by Ten Hag, Amorim already have zeroed in on players to be their replacement, the report added. The club board are also of the opinion that the Latin American duo are not delivering consistently to justify their respective hefty wages.
32-year-old Eriksen was past his prime when he arrived at Old Trafford from Brentford. Lindelof, 30, has been serving the unpredictable United backline since arriving from Benfica in 2017.
Casemiro, 32, a Real Madrid legend, has been not the "tank" he has been for the La Liga giants. Antony, who arrived from Ajax for £85m ($109m), has been one of the biggest flops in the recent history of the Red Devils. Often trolled by fans and rivals alike, a domestic violence case didn't help the 24-year-old's case either.