Several Red Devils could find themselves without a place in the Manchester United first team once Rúben Amorim arrives.
After leading Manchester United to its worst Premier League start, Erik ten Hag was fired on Oct. 28. Although the club appointed former United striker and PSV manager Ruud van Nistelrooy as interim coach, the front office was already working on bringing a new permanent boss to the team.
Just four days later, United announced the signing of Sporting's Rúben Amorim as United's new manager. The Portuguese coach is set to take charge Nov. 11 during the November international break.
Beyond a new coach, though, plenty of changes are needed to get United back on track in the Premier League and the Europa League. Many of the players taking up space in the dressing room and on the pitch are not up to the club or Amorim's standards.
Here's the five players who could see their roles on United diminish in just a few weeks.
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5. Casemiro
Although the ex-Real Madrid man has put in decent performances to close out October, he is still on the chopping block once Amorim arrives. In some ways, it feels like he sealed his fate Sept. 1 with his disastrous performance against Liverpool.
With Kobbie Mainoo, Manuel Ugarte and even Christian Eriksen as Amorim's other options for a double pivot, Casemiro's place on United is rather redundant. He might not be pushed out of the club like a few other of ten Hag's signings, but he will likely see his already shrinking role diminish even more.
4. Matthijs de Ligt
If Amorim deploys a back three at United, Matthijs de Ligt is in trouble. He lacked confidence in Bayern Munich's back three under Julian Nagelsmann and was dropped from Louis van Gaal's lineup after one start in the 2022 World Cup.
Formations aside, the defender has not had a dream start at United by any means. Instead of providing more defensive stability to the team, de Ligt has looked out of his depth playing against Premier League competition every week.
He also is known to lose concentration in big moments; he conceded a penalty to West Ham in the dying moments of the match on Oct. 27, ultimately gifting three points to the opposition and all but sacking his manager.
3. Joshua Zirkzee
One of United's last signings is surely under threat after his poor start. Joshua Zirkzee has found the back of the net just one time in his first 15 appearances across all competitions. At times, he looks anything but a natural, coldblooded goalscorer leading the line.
It might seem unfair to include Zirkzee without also including Rasmus Højlund; after all, the Danish international only has one more goal than Zirkzee in 2024–25. Except Højlund missed United's first six matches across all competitions this season due to injury. Plus, his 16-goal haul last year gives him more leeway than the transfer from Bologna who continues to underwhelm.
2. Marcus Rashford
It feels like Marcus Rashford has been playing on borrowed time. Despite finally ending his Premier League goal drought, the winger still has just four goals in 15 appearances across all competitions this season—and two came against Barnsley in the Carabao Cup.
His spells of brilliance are few and far between, and almost never come in Premier League matches. In fact it took him four matches in the EPL to even register a single shot this season.
With Amad Diallo waiting in the wings, Rashford will not have long to prove himself to his new coach.
1. Antony
Does Antony even have a spot at United at this point? The club paid a reported $108 million for the Brazilian in 2022 and he has just five Premier League goals to his name.
In total, Antony has found the back of the net 12 times for the Red Devils in 87 appearances across all competitions. He has never delivered in big moments for the club and spends more time on the bench than the pitch these days. In fact, he has not even started an EPL match this season.
It goes without saying one of the worst transfers in Premier League history will no longer have a place at United with the arrival of Amorim.
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This article was originally published on www.si.com as Five Manchester United Players at Risk of Being Dropped by Ruben Amorim.
