The transfer window closes on Monday and Manchester United still need to make at least one more addition.
Amorim on the touchline at Craven Cottage
Amorim on the touchline at Craven Cottage
When a team changes manager and the dust settles following the initial hysteria, often one of the first questions to be asked is which players will benefit most from the new man's arrival.
If a manager can start to get a tune out of an expensive recruit who has so far failed to prove their worth, they've instant credit in the bank from fans and those within the club's hierarchy.
But there's a lot more to it than 'they played well under them before and so this time should be no different'. Take Erik ten Hag's arrival at United as an example.
The Dutchman was keen to surround himself with home comforts, regularly targeting players either from, or who had spent time in, the Eredivisie. Yet, having inherited a player he had coached previously at Ajax in Donny van de Beek, he failed to get the best out of the midfielder, as Ole Gunnar Solskjaer had before him, and Van de Beek was shipped off to Girona after playing just eight league games in two years under Ten Hag.
When Ruben Amorim was appointed United manager in November 2024, it would be wrong to suggest there was instant hope that he could get the best out of Manuel Ugarte. The pair worked together at Sporting Lisbon, and with Ugarte not even three months into his United career, the jury was well and truly still out on the Uruguayan.
Fast forward nine months and there is a real worry Amorim will not get to see the best of the 24-year-old midfielder at United.
Ugarte was brought to United for a fee rising to £50.75million on transfer deadline day last summer. The Uruguay international was signed to be the successor to Casemiro in United's midfield, yet the man he was brought in to replace has started ahead of him in both Premier League games so far this season.
The former Paris Saint-Germain star showed glimpses of promise during pre-season, most notably against West Ham where he was one of the best players on the pitch in a 2-1 win in New Jersey. He again looked bright off the bench against Bournemouth, but regressed dramatically against Everton in the final game of the US tour and has not been seen in a starting XI since.
Opting to start the 33-year-old Casemiro in Premier League games, as brilliant as he once was, is an admission of defeat.
Casemiro will be 34 by the time the 2025/26 season comes to an end, and having been on a downward slope for more than 18 months, having him as one of your starting central midfielders when the bell rings at 7pm on September 1 simply isn't an option.
It's up to Amorim to make it work with Ugarte, but if he thinks Casemiro is a safer bet in midfield than the man he worked with at Sporting Lisbon then he clearly doesn't think it will work.
There's still time for deals to be done before the transfer window closes. Over to you, United.
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