We can all enjoy/endure a steady increase in transfer rumours surrounding Manchester United as we approach the January window; even more than usual thanks to the arrival of Ruben Amorim, who will be handed the requisite leeway until then by dint of not having His Players to call upon.
The transfer gossip-peddlers have predictably chosen to interpret that cliched caveat very literally thus far, with plenty of focus on the Sporting players Amorim may be looking to poach to get the band back together, having observed Erik ten Hag’s rudimentary transfer policy in his time at Old Trafford.
But the hearsay net has been spread wide, with some of the players tipped to be his ‘first signing’ perfectly reasonable suggestions and others indicating profound delusion over the lure of a once-great football team.
We’ve ranked 21 players linked with being the first through the door in the Amorim era from least to most likely.
*Remember, this isn’t the chances of them ever joining Manchester Untied, just of them being the first signing*
21) Jamal Musiala (Bayern Munich)
Absurd, obviously. Musiala could just about have his pick of any club in world football and already plays for one that’s in the Champions League and on top of the Bundesliga. Manchester United are a long way from even being on the radar for someone like him. But we need to consider when this rumour emerged.
United fans were understandably excited on November 1 when Amorim was officially announced as their next manager, trawling the interweb for any story – hokum or otherwise – on their saviour, giddily clicking on links in the false hope that his arrival opened a portal to the mid-noughties when they had the clout to attract a footballer of such repute and hadn’t spunked hundreds of millions of pounds on average players in the interim to make his transfer an impossibility.
20) Ademola Lookman (Atalanta)
A report that starts with ‘PSG have made a £100m offer for the Serie A sensation’ should at no point suggest that Manchester United are in the running for the same transfer.
19) Lautaro Martinez (Inter)
The gall required by a Spanish outlet that will remain nameless to suggest that Inter are so desperate to sign Joshua Zirkzee that they’re willing to send their £100m captain to Old Trafford in exchange is extraordinary, particularly as they supposedly only want £50m as well as the flopping striker United literally just paid £34.5m for. Not gonna happen.
18) Geovany Quenda (Sporting)
It’s fair to say Diogo Dalot, Ten Hag-nail-in-the-coffin miss against West Ham aside, has been one of Manchester United’s better players this season, looking comfortable either on the left or right of defence. But there will be doubt over his suitability for the right wing-back role, and even if he thrives there, the grind and energy levels required to play that position will likely see United prioritise wing-back signings so that they have two players for the left and two for the right.
Amorim clearly has great faith in Quenda, having promoted the 17-year-old to the first team and made him a staple in his side this season. There’s always a bloody release clause though, and while Sporting may well be willing to soften their stance in the summer, they’re currently of a mind that the £83m they’re asking for ‘reflects his long-term value and potential in European football’.
If United are going to spend that much on a Sporting player, it’s not going to be Quenda…
17) Lorran (Flamengo)
Us neither. He’s an 18-year-old attacking midfielder who’s been promoted to the Flamengo first team this season and has one goal and one assist in 17 appearances. Like 99 per cent of the people on social media now hailing him as The Next Vinicius, that’s the sum-total of our knowledge of Lorran, aside from what we’ve gleaned from the two dozen Welcome To Manchester United 2024 Best Skills And Goals videos that have emerged in the last month.
Chelsea are of course also scouting the teenager, who has a release clause of €50m, which, whether United sign him in the future or not, they’re not about to spend in January on a player who in all likelihood won’t be ready for first-team action for some time yet.
16) Christian Pulisic (AC Milan)
There may be a sense of Unfinished Business in the Premier League for Pulisic, who was on United’s radar before his move to Serie A and can quite reasonably feel as though he was never truly given a fair shot at Chelsea. But by all reports he’s loving life in Milan and we really can’t see him wanting to rock the happiness boat ahead of leading his nation in a home World Cup in 2026.
15) Jarrad Braithwaite (Everton)
In an alternate but not all that distant reality, Branthwaite would currently be licking his wounds following an Old Trafford baptism of fire under the doomed Erik ten Hag and hoping – like the rest of his Manchester United teammates – that the manager was the problem.
Had Sir Jim Ratcliffe and INEOS not been at the helm in the summer, the Red Devils would have got to deadline day, panicked, and bent to Everton’s crazy demands for their centre-back.
The new ethos of not paying over the odds for players, particularly young British talent, led United to instead sign Matthijs de Ligt for around half the £70m they would have had to stump up for Branthwaite.
We won’t know for a while yet whether Eric Dier’s understudy has struggled because of Ten Hag, his system or the team’s general hardships, but there is a sense – particularly as Amorim wants to play a back three – that further centre-back recruits will be required.
It makes sense for Branthwaite to be on that shortlist. He’s young, left-footed and has Everything You Want In A Centre-back. One for the summer though probably, as Everton surely won’t listen to offers in January; certainly not the sort of offers United will be prepared to put on the table given their financial constraints.
14) Christopher Nkunku (Chelsea)
We have little doubt having watched Nkunku’s fits-and-starts Chelsea career to date that if given a run in the team he would score plenty of goals. Cole Palmer aside, perhaps even including the Blues Starboy, Nkunku is the most natural and instinctive finisher in a squad bulging with attacking talent and potential.
He just doesn’t offer the same things as Nicolas Jackson, who’s very much the man in possession of the No.9 spot in the Premier League XI and doesn’t look likely to cede that role any time soon. If anything, he looks set to strengthen his grip, with his ceiling for improvement as high as anyone’s in Enzo Maresca’s squad.
There are already understandable rumblings of discontent from Nkunku, who – as the kids say – could Slap for a big side if given the game time.
The problem for United – and we’re not ruling it out because up until very recently Chelsea has been a madhouse under the new owners – is that it would take a special kind of stupid for the Blues to sign off on Nkunku moving to a Premier League rival.
They apparently turned down more money from Tottenham for Conor Gallagher and for the same reason would presumably only accept offers from abroad if the Frenchman angles for the exit.
13) Viktor Gyokeres (Sporting)
Definitely a transfer that could happen, though probably not in January, presuming Amorim is not a total snake.
A high chance of them making a move in the summer for sure, when Sporting have said they will listen to offers around the £60m mark: a price too low for United not to consider as they a) would love a proper goalscorer, and b) won’t want rival clubs to steal him away, as they will surely try to do.
Rasmus Hojlund has got a big six months ahead of him to prove to Amorim that they need not spend that cash on Gyokeres as they’ve already got a striker capable of producing consistent performances and banging in goals for fun. That’s surely the hope, though a report on Amorim’s plans for the United front three may well throw a spanner in the works.
READ MORE: Rasmus Hojlund must prove he’s Viktor Gyokeres, or Man Utd will sign Viktor Gyokeres
12) Jules Kounde (Barcelona)
The Premier League transfer rumour that just won’t go away. It seems everyone wants him, all of the time. Kounde feels like an odd focus as Sir Jim Ratcliffe’s supposed ‘obsession’, but he would clearly work very nicely on the right of a back three under Amorim.
To that end it’s claimed United have had offers of £37.5m and then £57m for the France international rejected by Barcelona, who presumably smell a bidding war involving all of the Premier League Big Six at some point over the next couple of years that will see Jules f*cking Kounde named the most expensive footballer in history.
11) Arda Guler (Real Madrid)
Arsenal are also thought to be keen as they look to safeguard Martin Odegaard by copying the transfer that landed them their now captain, the difference being it’s pretty clear Real Madrid are well aware that they have a potentially world class talent in Guler.
They don’t want him to leave but are supposedly considering his loan exit as the Turkey international seeks ‘more prominence’, which is why we’ve not dismissed Manchester United’s interest out of hand, we are though dismissing their attempt to send Antony the other way; so too have Madrid.
READ MORE: Arda Guler to Arsenal? Every Premier League club repeats their best signing
10) Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall (Chelsea)
His signing always felt like a bit of an odd one, seemingly joining Chelsea more as an assistant coach to Enzo Maresca than a player, as someone who knows what the manager wants and can impart his ethos and tactics from within while Maresca works on them from the top down.
Dewsbury-Hall likely knew he wasn’t set to be a key cog in the midfield of a club that also has Moises Caicedo, Romeo Lavia and Enzo Fernandez as options, but presumably also hoped for more than 43 Premier League minutes in the opening 11 games of the season.
Perhaps even Maresca thought he would have called on him more often, but it’s all going rather well with Caicedo and Lavia in the middle, and if Dewsbury-Hall was indeed signed to ease the transition of styles, there’s a sense that his job is already done.
Our suspicion is that he’s not quite good enough for Chelsea, and therefore probably not quite good enough for Manchester United, or at least where they want to be, and we can’t imagine stumping up what we assume would have to be a similar fee to the £30m Chelsea paid Leicester for Dewsbury-Hall would engender great hope for the future among the Red Devils fans.
9) Yunus Akgun (Galatasaray)
“Yunus is struggling a little bit with the rhythm, probably because he said in Turkey the rhythm is a little bit low. Here it’s more quick, the pace of the game.” Enzo Maresca there, explaining why Akgun barely played for Leicester in the Championship last season.
We have very little doubt that £5m-rated Akgun and his people would bite Manchester United’s hand off were they to make him an offer in January, and it’s for that reason that Manchester United probably shouldn’t make an offer for £5m-rated Akgun in January.
8) Randal Kolo Muani (PSG)
We really like the sound of this one. Kylian Mbappe’s gone and the poor b*stard still can’t get a game at PSG. He’s started more games for France this season (5) than his club (2), with Marco Asensio of all people usually keeping him out of the team.
United haven’t got the cash to sign him in January but reports suggest PSG would listen to loan offers with an option or obligation to buy. Sounds as though it makes sense for all parties, particularly as Kolo Muani is well versed in Amorim’s 3-4-3 having played in that formation at Frankfurt.
7) Chris Rigg (Sunderland)
When asked about the futures of both Ring and Jobe Bellingham, Sunderland boss Regis Le Bris said: “I think it is important for them to be here until the challenge is not high enough for them. Probably, when they feel that they need something more to develop, that should be the right moment to leave.”
On the one hand it would be a bit of a d*ck move for Rigg to leave midway through a season in which the club that nurtured him is pushing for promotion, on the other a big-money contract from one of the biggest clubs in the world is going to be tough to turn down for the 17-year-old, who’s been described as The Next Roy Keane. No wonder Amorim is so keen to sign him and United are ‘serious’. They well think it’s worth making a move in January as come the summer there may be many more suitors.
6) Karl Hein (Arsenal)
We really like what we’ve seen and heard from Amorim so far. He wants the Manchester United players to have “fun” for the first time in over a decade, didn’t bow to Gary Cotterill’s ludicrous Little Englander demand, looks genuinely excited to be the new manager and has spoken eruditely about the challenges ahead. In short, he’s come across as a smart and passionate guy.
No smart guy would arrive at Old Trafford and think the first thing they need to do is change the goalkeeper. Andre Onana has been very good this season, and even when supposedly bad last season he wasn’t actually that bad.
We wouldn’t just question the intelligence but the sanity of someone who wants to replace statistically the second-best goalkeeper in the Premier League with a guy sent out on loan from a team that currently has the 16th-best as their No.1.
The content of the story was nonsense, but United signing Hein from Arsenal is perfectly possible, as a back-up, with a view to him surpassing Onana as No.1 in the future.
5) Douglas Luiz (Juventus)
Another Zirkzee swap patsy; one that may surprise a few as the Brazilian was brilliant for Villa last season and they’re not doing all that brilliantly without him. But Luiz and Juve boss Thiago Motta supposedly aren’t seeing eye to eye and the midfielder has started just two of the 11 games he’s been available for so far this season.
4) Danilo (Juventus)
It doesn’t reflect hugely well on us so-called journalists here at Football365 that it came as a surprise to learn that a footballer who’s played close to every game in the last two seasons for – and is the actual captain of – Juventus, is still playing football at all.
In our defence Danilo left the Premier League five years ago, at which point we stop caring about any player not making waves in the Champions League.
He’s now 33 and out of contract in the summer but, judging by his three Serie A starts from 11 this season, is on something of a downward slope in career terms. That certainly doesn’t rule out a move to United, particularly as he would cost them close to nothing in January, but it would strike us as an unnecessary move if not quite entirely pointless given the experience the Brazilian would bring.
3) Sverre Nypan (Rosenborg)
A likely first signing for two reasons: he’s not going to cost a lot – around £10m supposedly – and the Norwegian season is about to finish, easing his path to Old Trafford in the January transfer window.
He plays in central midfield, where Amorim will definitely need reinforcements; the hugely optimistic assumption that Manuel Ugarte will immediately return to his Sporting levels is not enough to offset concerns over his ageing competition for that role alongside Kobbie Mainoo.
Nypan’s only 17 and we can’t see a £10m teenager arriving and slotting immediately into the Manchester United team, but Big Sir Jim and the INEOS lads have promised signings for the future and he fits that bill…if they can steal a march on Manchester City and Chelsea.
2) Milos Kerkez (Bournemouth)
A bombing Hungarian left-back with a mullet playing for Bournemouth, they don’t come more hipster than that. But Kerkez has emerged from the footballing subculture this season, with his name being put forward among the best full-backs in the top flight no longer requiring a hand-knitted beanie to be doffed after a thoughtful sip of an oat latte, but a nod between sips of a pint of Stella.
Fun and brilliant though Bournemouth are, he’s destined for bigger things. There will be significant competition for his signature, from Liverpool, where Arne Slot is reportedly unconvinced by both Kostas Tsimikas or Andy Robertson, and from abroad, with Serie A and La Liga giants said to be keeping tabs on his situation.
But United seems like a really good option for Kerkez, particularly given how well suited he would be to Amorim’s system and the opportunity to fly forward as a left wing-back.
1) Andreas Christensen (Barcelona)
We can imagine the crestfallen reactions of Manchester United fans clicking on links tipping a Barcelona star to be the marquee first addition under Amorim and discovering that man is Andreas Christensen. Understandable but a tad unfair.
He’s been injured this season but was more or less a mainstay for Barcelona last term, and an attractive signing in that he can operate both at centre-back and in defensive midfield. Cheap given his contract expires in 2026 (possibly even free as Barca look to trim the wage bill), he has lots of experience, both in the Premier League and in Europe, though with enough left in the tank as a 28-year-old.
Christensen has also crucially played plenty of football in a back three, Amorim’s preference, having come into the Chelsea team after Thomas Tuchel took over from Frank Lampard before playing a key role in their Champions League win. It makes total sense for the Denmark international to be Amorim’s ‘winter priority’.
