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A new era is dawning at Old Trafford, again. Sporting CP have agreed to let Ruben Amorim depart and take over as Manchester United’s new permanent head coach, after accepting a compensation package in the region of €10m. Amorim has signed an initial two-and-a-half-year contract at Old Trafford, succeeding Erik ten Hag after the Dutchman’s long-awaited dismissal on October 28.
To say that a huge task awaits Amorim is the understatement of the century. United haven’t won the Premier League since Sir Alex Ferguson’s final season in charge over a decade ago, and went into the weekend sat 14th in the table after their worst-ever start to a season.
Still, there is a wave of excitement sweeping across the red half of Manchester over Amorim’s impending arrival. When Sporting hired Amorim in 2020, they’d gone 19 years without winning the Primeira Division, but he proceeded to deliver two titles in the space of the next four seasons. And most importantly, from United’s point of view, Amorim gave Sporting a distinct identity, which was always lacking during Ten Hag’s tenure.
Unfortunately, though, being a good coach won’t be enough for Amorim to replicate the success he enjoyed with Sporting at Old Trafford. He’s inheriting a very mediocre squad full of prima donnas. Ten Hag was guilty of bringing in many of them, but he also failed to get rid of the disruptive figures who had undermined his predecessors, and paid the ultimate price for his poor judgement.
History will repeat itself if Amorim makes the same mistake. GOAL has listed the eight players United’s new manager must ship out to end the vicious cycle of failure, all of whom have fallen well short of the standards required at one of the world’s biggest clubs…
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Getty Images SportChristian Eriksen
It must be first put on the record that Christian Eriksen’s comeback from a harrowing near-death experience at Euro 2020 has been remarkable. The Denmark international has displayed incredible courage and determination to not only return to the pitch, but also the very highest level of the game, and for a time, his free transfer to United looked like a shrewd piece of business.
Eriksen featured in 31 of United’s first 32 games in all competitions in Ten Hag’s debut campaign, and his slick passing was a key reason for the team’s surprise emergence as title contenders. However, the Red Devils fell off the pace after Eriksen suffered a serious ankle injury in January, which marked the beginning of a string of fitness problems for the classy midfielder.
There have still been flashes of brilliance from Eriksen, but he’s just not as mobile anymore, and has become a liability defensively. At 32, Eriksen is well past his peak, with regular game-time no longer guaranteed. It would be a huge surprise if his contract is extended beyond its June 2025 expiry date because he’s just not the right fit for Amorim’s high-pressing system as he edges towards the twilight of his impressive career.
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Getty Images SportVictor Lindelof
“Victor is a very talented young player, who has a great future ahead of him at United,” Jose Mourinho said after luring Victor Lindelof to United from Benfica in a £31m ($40m) deal back in 2017. The Sweden defender has since featured in 264 games for the Red Devils, and chipped in with 11 goal contributions, but has never really lived up to the big billing he was given by Mourinho.
Lindelof has been little more than a back-up centre-back for United over the past three seasons, with Lisandro Martinez, Matthijs de Ligt, Harry Maguire and even 35-year-old Jonny Evans all now ahead of him in the squad pecking order. On the rare occasions Lindelof is selected to start, United look far more vulnerable, with the latest example coming in a 5-2 Carabao Cup win over Leicester City that saw the Foxes regularly exploit his lack of pace.
United can’t afford to hold onto any stragglers if they are to recover quickly from the disastrous Ten Hag regime. Lindelof doesn’t offer any real value to the collective cause anymore and must be ushered through the exits as a free agent next summer.
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Getty ImagesCasemiro
Casemiro was United’s Man of the Match against Leicester on Wednesday. He scored twice – the first of which may well win Goal of the Carabao Cup season – and ran the show in the middle of the park. It was the same version of Casemiro that managed to justify his £70m ($90m) price tag in his first year at the club after joining from Real Madrid.
But putting a half-strength Leicester to the sword in the League Cup does not make up for how useless Casemiro has been over the past 13 months. The Brazilian was the biggest weak link as United slumped to an eighth-placed finish in the Premier League, and his decline has continued this term.
Some supporters even called for Casemiro to retire after he gifted Liverpool their first two goals in a 3-0 romp at Old Trafford on September 1. He has often resembled a physical wreck, losing the majority of his duels, misplacing simple passes and generally struggling to keep up with the pace of games.
There will be no revival for a player fast approaching his 33rd birthday. Casemiro’s best years are behind him, and as he continues to attract interest from the Saudi Pro League, United would be wise to try and recoup a large chunk of their original investment.
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GettyMarcus Rashford
Marcus Rashford is now 27 years old, and has been a mainstay in the Red Devils’ forward line for nine seasons. As a promising young academy graduate, fans exercised patience as he frustrated and thrilled in equal measure during his early years, expecting that consistency would come with age.
But it never did. Aside from a spectacular 2022-23 campaign, which saw Rashford hit 30 goals in all competitions to briefly emerge as United’s leading man, he has only turned up on his terms. Rashford has broken the 10-goal barrier in the Premier League just four times, and hit a new low last season with his output and general performance.
Ten Hag must take a lot of blame for keeping Rashford in the starting XI, but he disgraced himself week in, week out. United couldn’t build any momentum in attack because of Rashford’s erratic decision-making and technical ineptitude, while his disinterested body language set a terrible example for the younger players in the squad.
Nothing has changed this season, and United have to realise that his days as a homegrown hero are well and truly over. Rashford has to be put on the transfer list, ideally in January, because all he’s doing now is holding the team back, and his market value keeps dropping with each passing game.
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Getty Images SportDiogo Dalot
The sight of Diogo Dalot kneeling on the London Stadium turf with his head in his hands will be an enduring memory for the United faithful when they look back on this ugly period in the club’s history. His shocking open-goal miss against West Ham last weekend essentially sealed Ten Hag’s fate, and should also be the final straw for his own career in Manchester.
Dalot is a rare breed of full-back who offers no quality going forward or in defence. Another terrible Mourinho signing, it’s unbelievable that he has lasted six years at Old Trafford. He is a progressive passer with strong physical attributes, and can operate on both flanks, but Dalot doesn’t have a high enough footballing IQ to thrive at a club like United.
Opposing teams will often target Dalot, who has an awful habit of neglecting to track his man and is far too easy to dispossess when trying to dribble out of defence. The good news is, Dalot is still only 25 and was linked with Barcelona in the summer. United should be able to sell the Portugal international for a profit, assuming Amorim recognises his limitations right from the off.
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GettyMason Mount
Mason Mount has only made 25 appearances for United since completing a shock switch from Chelsea in July 2023. That’s because he’s been forced to sit out 30 games due to injury, making it impossible for him to build up any kind of momentum. But that doesn’t mean it’s unfair to judge Mount’s time at Old Trafford so far.
He’s only contributed one goal and one assist in the games he has been fit to play, which is a rotten return for a man who cost £60m ($78m). But even more worryingly, Mount’s involvement in general play has been almost non-existent. The fans and pundits who thought there was no way of fitting Mount and Bruno Fernandes into the same team have been proven correct. United have looked unbalanced with Mount on the pitch and he hasn’t done enough to impose himself.
Mount’s struggles shouldn’t really have come as a surprise, though. He was one of Chelsea’s worst performers in their dismal 2022-23 campaign, which is also when the niggling injuries began to creep in, and probably couldn’t believe their luck when United came in for him.
Amorim won’t magically be able to break this pattern for Mount. There was a time when he was being touted as a future England captain, but to even have a prayer of getting back into the national team, he has to rediscover his passion for the game. United can’t wait around for that to happen, though, especially while he’s pocketing a reported £250,000 in weekly wages.
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Getty Images SportLuke Shaw
When fully fit and firing, Luke Shaw is one of the best left-backs in the business. He’s strong in the tackle, reads the game brilliantly and excels when driving forward, often producing the delivery to match his relentless work-rate. But the sad fact is, Shaw is unreliable.
He has only appeared in 30 or more Premier League games in two of the 10 seasons he’s spent at Old Trafford. Last season, he was available for just 12, and he’s yet to play a single minute for the Red Devils in 2024-25.
Injuries have completely overshadowed Shaw’s career. For far too long United have refrained from forking out on another first-choice left-back, in the hope Shaw will eventually find a way to cope with the demands of elite football. He’s 29 now, and something has to give.
United have no choice but to give up on Shaw, though finding a buyer may be difficult given his injury record. If that proves to be the case, terminating his contract must become a genuine consideration, because there is just no sense in him sitting on the sidelines gathering more dust until 2027.
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AFPAntony
“I would elastico the drug dealers. Rainbow the bus drivers. Nutmeg the thieves. I really did not give a f*ck,” Antony wrote in The Players Tribune when looking back on his challenging upbringing in the favelas of Sao Paulo. “With a ball at my feet, I had no fear.”
The Brazil winger bared his soul after a bright start to life at United following his £85m ($110m) move from Ajax, which saw him become the first United player ever to score in each of his first three Premier League appearances. It was clear Antony didn’t feel any pressure, and at first, his outrageous trickery attempts and long-range shooting got fans up out of their seats.
But it would very quickly become a tiresome routine as the end product dried up. Antony has now played 56 times in the top-flight, but has only scored another two goals, and laid on a meagre three assists. Gasps have been replaced by groans whenever he gets on the ball, because it usually leads to a United attack breaking down.
Antony is a painfully slow, predictable and unintelligent footballer. Even Ten Hag recognised that in the end, relegating his former Ajax prodigy to the bench in favour of Alejandro Garnacho and Amad Diallo. Antony has never been good enough for United, and will go down as the worst signing in the history of English football.
It has been reported that United will listen to offers within the region of £40m ($51m) for Antony in January, but they’d be lucky to even get close to that amount given the apparent lack of interest, with a return to Brazil likely to be the only option on the table for the 24-year-old.
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