Antony and Marcus Rashford are expected to leave Man Utd this summer
Despite naming a strong team for his side’s trip to Stamford Bridge, Manchester United boss Ruben Amorim extended his winless run to eight matches after a 1-0 defeat to Chelsea in West London.
It means that Amroim has now picked up 24 points from his opening 25 games, making him the joint second worst performing ‘big six’ manager in Premier League history alongside Alan Ball (24 points) and Joe Royle (22 points) - it’s worth noting that both of those coaches suffered relegation with City in 1995/96 and 1997/98 respectively.
Amorim’s side sit 16th in the league table and are on their longest run without a victory in the Premier League era. However, they can take some comfort in the fact that their performances in Europe have been far superior to those in domestic competitions.
The Europa League final offers the club a potential lifeline in the form of Champions League qualification if they can come out on top against Spurs. However, the club will need much more than just the Europa League earnings if they are to facilitate the changes needed to get back to the top echelons of the league table.
Man Utd set ambitious transfer goal for Antony
Brazil international Antony is just one of the players which summarises what has gone wrong for United in terms of recruitment. The winger arrived from Ajax for £85m in the summer of 2022 and looked to be hitting the ground running with goals in his first three appearances.
However, he’s failed to score in consecutive league games since then for the Red Devils and has an overall record of just 12 goals and five assists in 92 appearances across all competitions, with many of the more recent ones coming from the bench.
The 25-year-old failed to start a single league game under both Ruben Amorim and Erik Ten Hag and was loaned out to Real Betis after making just eight substitute appearances.
But since moving to Spain, he’s looked like a man reborn with eight goals and five assists in 23 appearances, and has been crucial in the team’s journey to the Conference League final as they target their first ever European honour in the club’s history against Chelsea at the Wrocław Stadium in Poland.
Antony has won the hearts of fans in Andalusia, with Isco urging the club to sign the winger on a permanent basis. There’s no option to buy inserted into his contract but United are hopeful that his value has increased significantly over the past few months.
He’s unlikely to return to Old Trafford under Amorim due to not fitting the system and Fichajes understand the club are seeking a figure of around £50m to sell the Brazilian ahead of the World Cup in 2026.
Marcus Rashford to Aston Villa latest
Long-serving forward Marcus Rashford made the loan move to Aston Villa in January after a long-standing dispute with manager Ruben Amorim.
Rashford failed to hit the heights expected of him in his final 18 months at Old Trafford but has forced his way back into the England set-up with a series of stellar performances in the West Midlands.
Villa have an option to extend Rashford’s stay for £40m and the Three Lions winger is reportedly keen to remain at Villa Park and play for Unai Emery.
However, the 27-year-old’s reported £365,000 per week wages are a potential stumbling block, via Guardian Sport, and it’s widely understood that Villa would hope to negotiate a cheaper package. Likewise, it is understood there is no clause in their agreement with United that prevents other clubs from buying him for the same price if the parent club and forward agree to the move.
This could leave the door open to Barcelona or potentially another of the interested parties that were linked with the forward in January.
Overall, United are believed to be aiming for around £90m combined for Rashford and Antony which on top of the estimated Europa League earnings would give United just over £100m towards targets plus any further money made from player sales and other revenue forms.
Either way, United will need to spend big if they are to climb the Premier League table and Champions League status could play a huge part in convincing some of the world’s top talents to step through the doors at the Theatre of Dreams.
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