Amorim makes spectacular £201m triple Sporting raid his priority with quartet to be put immediately up for sale

New Manchester United boss Ruben Amorim has reportedly made clear he wants to reunite with Goncalo Inacio, Ousmane Diomande and Viktor Gyokeres at Old Trafford, no matter the cost, while also picking out four players who can immediately leave the club when the January window opens for business.

The Red Devils have turned to the 39-year-old coach as the replacement for the sacked Erik ten Hag and becomes the sixth permanent manager at Manchester United since Sir Alex Ferguson’s retirement in 2013. Given Amorim’s billing as one of the top young coaches in the European game, supporters will be hoping they quickly climb the table after making their worst-ever start to a season in Premier League history.

Taking on the underperforming side will be no easy feat. United have won just three of their 10 Premier League games so far to leave them on a meagre 12 points and only one point closer to the top four than they are away from the relegation zone.

Moreover, they have also only scored nine times in those 10 games, while their concession of 12 goals leaves them on minus three goal difference.

Unsurprisingly, given Amorim‘s penchant for playing a 3-4-3 formation, the new boss is reportedly eager to build from the back and is reportedly targeting defensive recruits as a priority. As a result, Sky Sports journalist Sacha Tavolieri claims he has set his sights on bringing both Sporting CP stars Inacio and Diomande with him to Old Trafford.

The pair, though, will not come cheap, with Inacio having a £50.3m (€60m, $65.4m) exit clause in his deal and Diomande’s release set at a whopping £67.1m (€80m, $87.2m).

And in a bid to fix his attack, Amorim wants to secure a third raid on Sporting, this time for star striker Gyokeres. The release clause in his contract is fixed at £83.9m (€100m, $109.1m) meaning deals for all three could set United back an eye-watering £201.3m (€240m, $261.7m).

In order to buy, Amorim has been warned he will need to sell and it’s claimed the incoming new boss has responded by immediately deciding that all of Antony, Casemiro, Victor Lindelof and Christian Eriksen will be surplus to requirements and be made available for transfer in the January window.

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Tavolieri’s claim on the quartet who will be allowed to leave exactly mirrors our exclusive article last week that also revealed the incoming United boss had already decided that Casemiro, Eriksen, Lindelof and Antony don’t interest him and that he had quickly made clear his desire to see the four players moved on at the first available opportunity.

Sources have revealed to us that Eriksen and Lindelof are not part of Amorim’s long-term plans and, with the pair out of contract at the end of the season, there is no desire to offer either contract extensions. As a result, they will either leave at the season’s end or could even be sold on for a nominal fee if a suitable offer comes their way in the winter window.

Amorim is also ready to offload Casemiro and Antony, who have fallen down the pecking order. The Man Utd board are in agreement that their performances do not reflect their respective wages. As a result, offers for the pair will also be considered.

While United cannot expect to reclaim much in the way of transfer fees for the quartet, the saving they would make on wages would significantly boost their coffers.

Casemiro takes home £350,000 a week, Antony is on £200,000 a week, Eriksen collects £150,000 a week, while Lindelof takes home £120,000 a week – a saving of £820,000 a week, more than a staggering £42.6m a year!

The quest to add more goals to his side will undoubtedly be of strong importance to Amorim, and while he has pledged not to raid his former employers in the winter window, journalist Florian Plettenberg claims sources have confirmed to him that a bid for Gyokeres will be on firmly on his radar come the summer.

Any move for the Swede, who has already scored 20 goals from 16 appearances this season, would be welcomed by Dimitar Berbatov, who reckons the player would be a smash hit at Old Trafford.

“I think there is a special connection with the coach so maybe we probably are going to see him in a United shirt,” the former United striker said while appearing as a guest on Monday Night Football.

Berbatov was then asked if he would welcome the 26-year-old’s arrival at United. He endorsed the transfer and also criticised United’s current goalscoring tally.

“From what he is showing right now, I think yes,” he added.

“Our strikers at the moment are not producing and scoring goals. We’re 18th in the league [for goals scored so far this season] which is embarrassing for a stature of club like United.

“So this is a position that I would like to see improvement.”

Latest Man Utd transfer news: Bid made for Barca star / Amorim green lights Spaniard’s return

With that triple raid on Sporting unlikely to be made until the summer, a new report on Tuesday has suggested the United manager has looked to add an immediate fix for his defence by instructing the club to bid for Barcelona defender Andreas Christensen.

Per the report, United have offered €15m (£12.6m) for the Dane, which is currently being considered by Barca and may likely be accepted with the former Chelsea man having slipped down the pecking order and with his situation about to worsen owing to the imminent returns of both Eric Garcia and Ronald Araujo.

Elsewhere, the new United boss has personally requested the club trigger the buy-back clause in Alvaro Fernandez Carreras’ contract with Benfica.

He departed United for just €5m over the summer and has not looked back since, proving a key player for the Portuguese side and attracting attention from the likes of Liverpool and Real Madrid. However, the €20m buy-back clause in his deal means the Red Devils will likely be first in line for his signing.

And finally, we have also had it confirmed that Amorim is also keen on yet another raid on Sporting CP, this time for a teenager who is also wanted by Manchester City and with the winger having also earned comparisons to the icon that is Cristiano Ronaldo.

How have Sporting’s defence performed compared to Man Utd this season?

Sporting and Man Utd’s defensive records so far this season

So far this season, Sporting have conceded 10 goals from their 16 matches played so far, keeping nine clean sheets in the process.

That means their defence has been breached, on average, once every 144 minutes.

United, by contrast, while up against better quality sides and attacks by comparison, have been breached 19 times across 15 games to date, keeping five clean sheets in that time. That’s a goal conceded every 71.05 minutes.

In time, you would expect United to drastically improve on that figure with Amorim at the helm and it is understandable to see why he might be keen to reunite with two of his trusted defensive lieutenants at Old Trafford in Diomande and Inacio.

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