The men who could shape Ruben Amorim’s Manchester United were sat side by side in the Old Trafford directors’ box, Jason Wilcox and Omar Berrada resplendent in club suits. The man whose transfer business helped Amorim get the job was on the other side of the aisle. There was a theory that, when Hugo Viana was lined up as Txiki Begiristain’s successor as Manchester City’s director of football, it meant Amorim would leave Sporting CP for the Etihad Stadium.
Not now, and not with Pep Guardiola signing a contract extension. And yet two rebuilding jobs are required in Manchester. Viana at least has the benefit of knowing he will not need to sell in order to buy, that he has vast leeway within PSR regulations and that City’s huge profits from trading in recent years mean that, even after spending in excess of £170m in January, he can anticipate a significant budget.
