Ruben Amorim drops Man Utd transfer hint ahead of January window

Ruben Amorim said he is expecting some of the fringe players in his Manchester United squad to ask to leave in the January transfer window.

An early exit in the Carabao Cup and a lack of European football have given Amorim few chances to rotate his side so far this season.

And Amorim appears even less likely to tinker with his team, having finally stumbled upon something of a winning formula that has seen United win their last three Premier League matches.

That will not come as good news to the fringe players in the Red Devils squad, who are keen for more regular minutes, particularly as there is a World Cup on the horizon at the end of the season.

Kobbie Mainoo is one player who has already made his desire for more regular minutes clear, but the midfielder saw his request to leave on loan in the summer rejected by United. The Englishman is yet to start a league game this season.

Similarly, Joshua Zirkzee has played a total of 82 minutes across four league substitute appearances, with recent reports linking the Dutch striker with West Ham as well as clubs in Serie A.

Asked about the club’s plans for the January window, Amorim said: ‘I don’t know what is going to happen. A lot of things can happen, even in our club.

‘You know that we have World Cup, some players are not playing, they will ask to leave, so I have to manage everything.

‘Then we want to bring players that we can see have a big future in Manchester United. We are not just buying one guy, because now we feel in December that we need this kind of player for now. No, we want to buy players that we know we are not going to change a lot of times. So that is our idea.

‘So I don’t know what is going to happen, but of course we think about how we can improve the team, and January, the window is open, we can do something.’

Amorim, though, has not shut the door on any player forcing their way back into the first-team picture, using the example of Casemiro, who has started the season impressively after being heavily linked with an exit over the summer.

‘First of all, they understand, I prove that anyone can play, and everyone has to do the same things,’ he added. ‘Not in the same way, but there are some things that everyone, no matter what is your name, you have to do it to play for Manchester United.

‘I try to explain all the time to the players that we are not just playing today, not just this year, but then the next seasons. So they feel that they are part of the journey, and that we are part of something bigger than just one game or one season. So they are part of our path.

‘Then I show also to them that Casemiro was not part of the starting 11. He was behind and then he fought. He won the place, and if you win the place, you will be playing.

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‘So I think that helped them to understand that I’m trying to be fair, and they are part of something very special that is very important to us.’

United currently sit sixth and just one point off the top four, with Amorim clear that a return to European football is a priority this season, in part to give him more games with which to use his full squad.

‘We need to go to Europe, because of everything,’ Amorim said. ‘Imagine for me to have Kobbie Mainoo with the minutes that he’s playing, he needs more games for me to make a rotation.

‘Because with one game it’s really hard. I have to take out one of the guys that is playing to put in another. When you have more games, you can divide, you can manage the group in a different way.’

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