Ruben Amorim on the touchline.
Man Utd may be about to repeat previous transfer mistakes this summer under Ruben Amorim.
Plenty of intrigue surrounds the looming summer transfer window at Manchester United.
Few Premier League clubs face such a crucial period, with the Europa League becoming vital for United's future under Ruben Amorim and his hopes of strengthening a squad currently unsuited to him and his style. Without European football at Old Trafford - and in particular the Champions League - United will miss out on pots of cash which can rise above £100million in any given campaign.
But regardless of the Reds' European fate this season or next, the club must become much more shrewd in the transfer market. Decades of poor decisions in this regard have set United on a path to their lowest-ever Premier League finish, just 12 months after a previous low.
Struggles at M16 have seen the word "relegation" uttered around United for the first time in a generation. Fans across the globe have been left wondering how it has come to this.
And it's why the latest transfer rumours will cause some alarm. In what could be the most important window in United's recent history, their repeated links with players from Portugal hint at a worrying return to past mistakes.
Viktor Gyokeres, Geovany Quenda, Francisco Trincao and Roger Fernandes are just some of the key names being linked, with the first three having played under Amorim at Sporting CP. However, a deal to take starlet Quenda to Chelsea has now been struck up.
A similar strategy was seen under Amorim's predecessor, Erik ten Hag. The Reds signed Lisandro Martinez and Antony from Ten Hag's former side Ajax, while Tyrell Malacia joined from another Eredivisie club in Feyenoord.
Andre Onana, Christian Eriksen, and Matthijs de Ligt are three others signed who have Ajax connections. Wout Weghorst and Joshua Zirkzee, meanwhile, were signed after previously playing in the Dutch top-flight.
Antony struggled badly at Manchester United after arriving from Ajax. (Image: Martin Rickett/PA Wire.)
Of all those signings, Martinez is, perhaps, the only one who can be considered any sort of success - although the Argentine's dreadful injury record would make that debatable. Eriksen played well at times during Ten Hag's first season, but his decline due to age and injuries has seen him become a shell of the player who shone at Tottenham Hotspur in the late 2010s under Mauricio Pochettino.
So why would United follow a similar transfer strategy under Amorim? If it's true, that points to a worrying lack of imagination under Ineos, which could set the Reds back further.
Yes, Gyokeres appears to be an elite striker who would undoubtedly improve United's squad. That wouldn't be hard, though, and his impressive numbers in the Portuguese top-flight offer zero indication of whether he could transfer that to the Premier League.
Whether United will go on to sign any of the players being linked remains to be seen, but a worrying trend hints toward further problems on the horizon.
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