Manchester United’s incoming new head coach Ruben Amorim is already planning to raid Sporting CP for talented winger Geovany Quenda.
One of Sporting CP’s hottest prospects after breaking into the first team under Ruben Amorim this season, Geovany Quenda, 17, has already made 17 senior appearances and played twice for Portugal under-21s. He started on the right flank in his team’s dazzling 4-1 win over Manchester City in the Champions League on Tuesday night.
The fleet-footed winger, who has been likened to Arsenal star Bukayo Saka, has reportedly caught the attention of Manchester United since the start of the 2024/25 campaign. The Red Devils have been tracking his progress, and with Amorim set to officially arrive at the club next week, chances of Quenda following his former boss have become higher.
Antony’s future at Man United in limbo
Manchester United will need to start from scratch again after Erik Ten Hag was sacked last month. A new era is dawning at Old Trafford, again. Amorim is succeeding Ten Hag at the helm of the club, and he faces an uphill task of restoring the Red Devils’ prestige and glory days.
Despite the mammoth job at hand, there is wave of excitement sweeping across the red half of Manchester over the Portuguese tactician’s impending arrival. He will have to trim his squad by offloading the deadwood before adding new talents. And one of the players whose future at Man United appears to be up following Ten Hag’s exit is Antony.
After arriving in England from Ajax in an eye-watering £85m deal during the summer of 2022, Antony became the first United player ever to score in each of his first three Premier League appearances. Things dipped thereafter, however, and it would become clear for the fans that the Brazil winger is not good enough to play week in, week out for the 20-time English champions.
Amorim won’t magically be able to revive Antony. There was a time when he was rated as among one of Europe’s most exciting wingers owing to his displays at Ajax, but the move to Man United has just not worked out for him. It will be in INEOS’ best interests to bite the bullet and take a hit on the 24-year-old, who has only scored 12 goals and laid on five assists in 87 appearances.
Quenda to replace Antony?
Amorim knows Quenda in and out, having handed him his debut in August. He is expected to line up in a 3-4-3 formation at United, who may have problems integrating wingers such as Marcus Rashford, Alejandro Garnacho and Antony in the team. The trio prefer to operate higher up the pitch but in the new system, they could struggle.
Quenda has played in the same 3-4-3 system at Sporting and could thrive at United. Pacey, agile and creative with good work ethic, the young Portuguese is perhaps viewed as a replacement for Antony. However, as he is still only 17, the Premier League giants will have to wait until his birthday in April to sign him, meaning the earliest Quenda could move to Old Trafford would be the summer transfer window of 2025.
I am Rohan Sengupta from one of the busiest cities in India, Mumbai. A Journalism graduate with a keen interest in sports, football is something I simply cannot live without and writing, discussing and analyzing the game is what I do 24*7.
