Manchester United have obvious January transfer under Ruben Amorim, it solves two problems

Manchester United have an obvious January transfer to make under Ruben Amorim which solves two key problems.

Manchester United have confirmed the appointment of Ruben Amorim as their new Head Coach following the departure of Erik ten Hag from Old Trafford.

Despite having his contract extended by a year during the summer, Ten Hag oversaw a disappointing season that left United 14th in the Premier League and 21st in the Europa League.

This resulted in his departure on Monday morning, prompting the club to act swiftly in securing Amorim as his replacement.

Amorim is set to lead the team for the first time after the November international break in a match against Ipswich Town.

That extra week on the training ground beforehand will be extremely helpful to Amorim and the squad, even if there are a handful of players who go on international duty.

Amorim’s teams operate in a 3-4-3 system and there are clear differences to what United players were used to under Ten Hag.

In particular, the roles of the wingbacks will be brand new to those at Old Trafford but even with extra preparation, there may still be issues.

That is because the team doesn’t exactly have many obvious options for the left wingback role. Diogo Dalot and Noussair Mazraoui would likely be good options for the opposite side.

Perhaps Alejandro Garnacho could prove himself in a slightly altered role, which still allows him to attack on the touchline. Maybe Antony could save his United career with a position change.

However, it wouldn’t be surprising at all to see United go into the January market to buy a specialised wingback, especially because Amorim likely won’t be able to depend on Luke Shaw or Tyrell Malacia to be a consistent option.

This makes the potential re-signing of Alvaro Fernandez an obvious transfer to make. He has excelled at Benfica so far this year and United have a buyback option in his contract for around £16 million.

Not only would the 21-year-old, who has experience playing at left wingback, provide a solid option for that role but a move would also open up depth for another position.

Lisandro Martínez is the only left-footed centre-back at Old Trafford, although Jonny Evans is essentially as good with his left as his right. But the progressiveness that Martínez brings is hard to replicate among the current options.

With the three centre-backs in Amorim’s system often needing to thread passes through to the midfield, another solid option on the ball to rotate with Martínez would be useful.

Shaw’s fitness remains a concern but when he is fully fit, he is one of the best deep progressors at the club. Fernandez’s return would also mean he wouldn’t start consistently at left wingback, giving him the chance to build himself into that centre-back role.

We have seen it before under Ten Hag and Shaw could end up being a good option for both positions. Fernandez coming back for a cheap fee would help allow that. It seems like a no-brainer.

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