Rúben Amorim has been proven wrong about one of his most-favoured Manchester United transfers this summer after 11 Premier League games.
Manchester United’s summer transfer window saw Rúben Amorim’s club spend over £200 million on four new first-team players, all of whom have fought their way into the United head coach’s starting XI.
Benjamin Šeško, Bryan Mbeumo, and Matheus Cunha now form United’s new first-team attacking line, with Senne Lammens the first-choice goalkeeper following André Onana’s departure to Turkey on loan.
As for the Premier League standings, United sit seventh with 18 points, level with Tottenham in 5th, while they remain one point behind Sunderland in 4th and two points behind 3rd-placed Chelsea.
The club have lost just one of their last seven fixtures in the competition, but back-to-back 2-2 draws against Nottingham Forest and Tottenham have left the fans feeling there was more to give.
Amorim proved wrong about Watkins transfer
United’s decision to revolutionise their front line was mainly spurred by the lack of goals last season, with there being little to rely on, as well as minimal depth once injuries hit in the second half of the season.
United recruited Mbeumo and Cunha from other Premier League sides, which has allowed the duo to settle in quickly and feel much more comfortable in the competition compared to recruiting outside England.
Although the club secured Šeško, it was widely reported that Amorim instead wanted to bring in Aston Villa’s Ollie Watkins to continue the trend, who was earmarked as a “perfect” signing for United but at a price of up to £60 million.
However, since United’s board overruled him and went for Šeško instead, Watkins has been a far cry from his old self. The England international has just one goal in 16 appearances across the Premier League, Europa League, and Carabao Cup.
Although Šeško has received mixed reviews from both United fans and pundits alike, he has still managed to score two goals and provide an assist in recent matches, putting in some positive displays against the likes of Liverpool, Sunderland, and Brighton.
It seems that Amorim’s favouring of Watkins was the wrong call, and even the head coach himself has admitted that he was surprised by Šeško’s abilities and feels the Slovenian will become United’s striker for several coming seasons.
United have a much better recruitment process
In the past, many of United’s transfers have been motivated by either commercial possibilities or quick-fix signings, both of which can hinder the club’s long-term planning. However, in the new setup, there is a much better chain of communication, something Jason Wilcox, the director of football, has made clear.
“Last year’s summer window [2024] was a lot more chaotic than this one and this one was really calm,” Wilcox told club media recently. “With this one, we knew the plan, we knew which players we were going to target, we had our lists, we knew which areas of the pitch we needed to improve.
“These are continuous meetings with myself and Ruben [Amorim], with Chris Vivell and with his team underneath, where we are very clear on the profiles that we need.
“So, the brief will come from myself and Ruben, it goes into Chris [Vivell, head of recruitment], there is a lot of debate and discussion around the profiles that we need, and then the scouts will go into the market, we will combine that with the data team and then there will just be constant dialogue.
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“Right now, I am having weekly meetings with the recruitment team on the different profiles, the age bracket, the cost, are they attainable, with Ruben as well, so it is a really joined-up approach.
“When we sign a player, there are so many people that are involved in the process. The data team are involved in the process and we will then focus all our attention on certain players.
“It is really important then that we do the background checks on whether they are clean-living professionals. This is really important.”
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