Worries already raised over Ruben Amorim's first batch of transfer targets for Man Utd

With Ruben Amorim's move to Manchester United inching closer, several Sporting players are being tipped to follow him to Old Trafford - and Paul Scholes is concerned by that

Paul Scholes has warned Manchester United against signing several Sporting players under Ruben Amorim.

Following Erik ten Hag's dismissal on Monday, United have moved quickly to find his replacement and are understood to be on the verge of sealing a deal for Amorim, 39. In the meantime, Ruud van Nistelrooy is in interim charge.

With a new manager being installed, there's every chance he'll be eyeing his own transfer targets for the Red Devils, and several Sporting stars are already being linked with moves to the club. But United legend Scholes reckons shopping at the Primeira Liga champions would be a risk, particularly given Ten Hag's record of signing former players.

"Manchester United could be scarred from Erik ten Hag, when you think of all the players he bought from Ajax," the 49-year-old said on The Overlap Fan Debate, brought to you by Sky Bet. "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 Sebastián 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."

Immediately after joining United in 2022, Ten Hag convinced the club to shell out for Ajax duo Antony and Lisandro Martinez. He later signed Andre Onana, Matthijs de Ligt and Noussair Mazraoui, three players who also played under him at the Johan Cruyff Arena. Injury problems aside, Martinez has been a success, but the other four have largely failed to live up to expectations so far - especially Antony, who was signed for an astronomical £82million.

Several Sporting stars have been on United's radar for some time, including Goncalo Inacio, Ousmane Diomande, Morten Hjulmand, Marcus Edwards, Pedro Goncalves and Viktor Gyokeres, and TEAMtalk claim that Amorim wants to bring Inacio, Edwards and Goncalves with him to Manchester.

However, it's understood United chiefs have made it clear during talks that they want Amorim to get the best out of the current crop of players - including Ten Hag's struggling signings - before they sanction another transfer splurge.

The Red Devils spent over £170m on new players over the summer in the hopes of propelling themselves back up the table following their record-low eighth-place finish in the 2023/24 Premier League campaign. But most of their new arrivals are yet to make a proper impact.

Joshua Zirkzee, who joined from Bologna, made a dream start by scoring on his debut, but hasn't found the back of the net since. Meanwhile, 18-year-old sensation Leny Yoro, signed for £52m under the noses of Real Madrid, hasn't kicked a ball yet after injuring his foot in pre-season, and Manuel Ugarte, signed from PSG, has started just once in the league.

De Ligt and Mazraoui, both of whom joined from Bayern Munich, are the only two arrivals currently playing regular football, but neither have managed to plug the holes in United's leaky defence, as shown by their lack of clean sheets this season.

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