Man United warned about Ruben Amorim transfer concern after ‘three targets named’

Paul Scholes thinks Manchester United should be wary of signing players from Sporting once Ruben Amorim is confirmed as manager.

Following Erik ten Hag's sacking on Monday, the Red Devils moved swiftly to identify his successor, and struck a deal for 39-year-old Amorim within hours. In the interim, Ruud van Nistelrooy has taken the reins, and oversaw Wednesday night's 5-2 victory over Leicester in the Carabao Cup.

With a new manager set to arrive, there's every chance he'll be eyeing his own transfer targets ahead of the January transfer window - and several Sporting players are already being linked with switches to Manchester. However, United legend Scholes has expressed concerns over raiding the Primeira Liga champions' squad, particularly given Ten Hag's track record of shopping at previous club Ajax.

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Speaking on The Overlap Fan Debate brought to you by Sky Bet, Scholes, 49, said: "Manchester United could be scarred from Erik ten Hag, when you think of all the players he bought from Ajax," and further elaborated, "If Ruben Amorim comes from Sporting, and suddenly wants three or four of their players and they're not good enough that will be a concern.

"Some players who haven't quite made it [in England] have gone over to Sporting and been alright there's a young lad from Tottenham [Marcus Edwards], and the centre-back from Liverpool Sebastian Coates, who go over there and look like really good players. There will be scars there [and United will be] thinking what can we let him do, or that might be where Dan Ashworth takes over."

After joining United in 2022, Ten Hag persuaded the club to invest in Ajax pair Antony and Lisandro Martinez. Later, he signed Andre Onana, Matthijs de Ligt and Noussair Mazraoui, all of whom had previously played under him at the Johan Cruyff Arena.

Despite injury setbacks, Martinez has proven successful, but the other four have largely fallen short of expectations - particularly Antony, who was acquired for a staggering £82million.

A number of Sporting stars, including Goncalo Inacio, Ousmane Diomande, Morten Hjulmand, Marcus Edwards, Pedro Goncalves and Viktor Gyokeres, have been on United's radar for a while, and TEAMtalk reports that Amorim is keen to bring Inacio, Edwards and Goncalves with him to Manchester.

However, it's believed that United chiefs have made it clear during discussions that they want Amorim to get the best out of the existing squad - including Ten Hag's underperforming signings - before they approve another spending spree.

The Red Devils shelled out over £170m on new talent over the summer in an attempt to climb back up the table following their record-low eighth-place finish in the 2023/24 Premier League season. However, most of their new recruits are yet to make a significant impact.

Joshua Zirkzee, signed from Bologna, had a dream debut with a goal but has since struggled to find the back of the net. 18-year-old prodigy Leny Yoro, who was signed for £52m from Lille, is yet to make his debut due to a pre-season foot injury.

Meanwhile, Manuel Ugarte, brought in from PSG, has only started one league match, and while De Ligt and Mazraoui, both transfers from Bayern Munich, have been playing regularly, they've been unable to fortify United's porous defence, as evidenced by the team's dearth of clean sheets this season.

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