Ruben Amorim was appointed as the new Manchester United head coach on Friday and will complete his move to Old Trafford from Sporting CP on 11 November. He has signed a contract until June 2027, replacing Erik ten Hag at the helm of the Mancunian club.
Although the Portuguese has been appointed as the new head coach and not manager, he is understood not to have as much say over recruitment or veto on transfers as his predecessors. Yet, he could help Manchester United hunt for one of their former academy products.
The Red Devils are interested in re-signing Alvaro Carreras from Benfica, having only sold him to the Portuguese giants for £7.7million during the past summer transfer window. The flying left-back impressed on loan at Benfica during the second half of last season, prompting the Liga NOS club to sign him permanently from Man United. But the 20-time English champions smartly inserted a €20m buyback clause in his contract.
Alvaro Carreras, 21, has made himself one of the first names on the team sheet for the Eagles, with the left-back bagging two assists in 13 appearances across all competitions. The Spaniard has made quite an impression in Liga NOS, with Amorim keeping tabs on his progress while coaching Sporting. He is reportedly set to give the Red Devils green light to trigger the youngster’s €20m release clause during the January transfer window.
Man United need a new left-back/wing-back
Amorim is perhaps wary of the problematic left-back situation at Old Trafford, with both Luke Shaw and Tyrell Malacia yet to play a single minute so far this season. Shaw’s ongoing problems to prove his fitness continues while Malacia has not seen competitive action since Man United’s final league game of the 2022/23 season.
This led to former boss Erik ten Hag use Diogo Dalot, Noussair Mazraoui and Lisandro Martinez on the left-hand side of the defence this term. Incoming boss Amorim prefers a 3-4-3 or 3-4-1-2 system where wing-backs play a very crucial role—both in offensive and defensive aspects of the game. The club’s current lack of reliable options in that department means signing Alvaro Carreras would make perfect sense.
An attack-minded left-back, Carreras would be a fantastic fit on the left flank in Amorim’s 3-4-3 system, providing Man United with width, creativity and energy. The Spanish under-21 international is no slouch defensively as he barely hesitates to make crunching challenges and tackles and possesses good game-reading sense.
At just 21, the Ferrol-born talent is still far from the finished product. Carreras still has certain elements in his game to improve which he certainly can under Amorim at Old Trafford. The Spaniard could prove to be an astute buy, thanks to the buyback clause for United in his Benfica contract.
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.
