Rio Ferdinand, Alan Shearer and Micah Richards have all agreed that Man Utd need to make a new striker a priority under Ruben Amorim.

The Red Devils have made a terrible start to the new season with Man Utd currently 13th in the Premier League table after winning just three of their first ten matches.

Erik ten Hag was sacked last week and replaced by Sporting Lisbon boss Amorim, who will join Man Utd on November 11 after his duties at the Portuguese club end.

Only Crystal Palace and newly-promoted Southampton have scored fewer goals than Man Utd in the Premier League this term with summer signing Joshua Zirkzee struggling to make an impact.

Their other main striker, Rasmus Hojlund, has only scored two goals in ten matches in all competitions this season and both Shearer and Richards reckons a new centre-forward has to be their priority.

Gary Lineker asked the pair on the Rest is Football podcast: “New manager, even if he’s really good, as you said, they’ve got a lot to do haven’t they? Have they got the talent in there, even if they’re kind of, say, properly coached, if they’ve got a plan?

“It’s hard to see, really, isn’t it? How many of those players would be part of a team that is challenging?”

Shearer responded by claiming Man Utd need a centre-forward “massively” and Richards agreed with his fellow pundits take.

MORE MAN UTD COVERAGE ON F365…
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👉 Owen names Man Utd star who won’t play under Amorim as he predicts starting XI
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And, on a separate show, Red Devils legend Ferdinand agreed and reckons Sporting Lisbon striker Viktor Gyokeres is the obvious choice to bring in.

Ferdinand said on TNT Sports: “Managers when they leave clubs, there’s always one of two players, you know, I’ve got to take that.

“Who is that guy going to be, if he’s going to take someone from Sporting Lisbon? After the way [Gyokeres] was playing in the last few weeks, 11 [goals] in five games, is he going to be the number one target for the new manager of Man United?”

Gyokeres scored a hat-trick on Tuesday night as Sporting beat Man City 4-1 in the Champions League ahead of Amorim’s departure to Man Utd next week.

Giving his thoughts on Amorim, Gyokeres told reporters: “We will miss him a lot, of course.

“We achieved a lot together and we will miss him and the other members of the staff, but they are leaving and we have to move on and face the next challenge we have.”

Speaking generally about their performance against Premier League champions Man City, Amorim added: “It’s always nice to score and even better to score a hat-trick. Most important was to win the game so it was a brilliant night for us.

“We knew it was going to be tough and we didn’t start off well. We knew they would give us space and we could have scored more than four to be fair. They could have scored more as well. You need to raise your level when you play better opponents. I tried to keep doing what I’ve been doing.”

According to reports, Manchester United are ‘determined’ to beat Real Madrid in the race to sign Alphonso Davies from Bayern Munich.

Davies has entered the final year of his contract at Bayern Munich and he’s expected to leave the Bundesliga leaders in 2025.

The Canada international has been heavily linked with Spanish giants Real Madrid in recent months but Man Utd are also being mooted as a possible destination.

If the Red Devils add to their squad in January, they will likely prioritise the signing of a new left-back.

Luke Shaw and Tyrell Malacia are yet to make an appearance this season as versatile defenders Diogo Dalot and Noussair Mazraoui have filled in at left-back.

39-year-old Ruben Amorim has been appointed to replace Erik ten Hag, who was sacked following last month’s disappointing 2-1 loss at West Ham.

Amorim is expected to implement a 3-4-3 system at Man Utd and attacking full-back Davies would fit into this formation as a left wing-back.

READ: Ruben Amorim and the three-letter word that should excite Man Utd fans

A report in Spain claims Real Madrid are the ‘favourites’ to sign Davies, but Man Utd ‘want to steal’ him from the European giants.

United are said to be ‘determined’ to land Davies and their ‘growing interest could change’ Real Madrid’s chances of winning the race to sign him.

Davies is described as a ‘dream signing’ for Man Utd and they are reportedly ‘willing’ to offer the ‘elite player’ a huge deal.

‘Alphonso Davies, 24, is one of the most coveted players on the European market, and his contract with Bayern Munich ends in 2025, which opens the possibility of a pre-contractual agreement from January 2024.

‘United, aware of this window of opportunity, would be willing to meet the player’s wage demands, which are around £240,000 a week, a high figure but in line with his performance and market potential.’

MORE MAN UTD COVERAGE ON F365…
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👉 Ferdinand claims Amorim ‘will scare’ Guardiola as he’ll ‘bring’ four ‘elements’ Man Utd are ‘lacking’
👉 Owen names Man Utd star who won’t play under Amorim as he predicts starting XI

‘The Red Devils’ need for a top-class left-back has become more urgent with both Luke Shaw and Tyrell Malacia struggling with injury and form issues.

‘For its part, Real Madrid continue to consider the Canadian as a priority to strengthen its defence. Although the Merengue club has been cautious on salary issues, it does not rule out competing for Davies, who could fit perfectly into its strategy of squad renewal.

‘Both United and Madrid would be willing to make a considerable effort to secure his signing and enjoy his best years.’

Amorim officially joins Man Utd on November 11. His penultimate game in charge of Sporting Lisbon occurred on Tuesday night as his side beat Manchester City 4-1.

Speaking post-match, Amorim admitted Man Utd will not be able to “play the same way” as Sporting Lisbon.

“We will have to adapt. This does not mean anything specifically and it is misleading. We will not be able to transport one reality to another,” he said.

“United cannot play the way we play, they cannot be so defensive. We will have to adapt. Of course it’s good to beat City. But I’ll be living in a different world in Manchester, we’ll have to start from a different point.

“This was a one-off and we had luck on our side. I will take this to the Premier League, but it will be different in Manchester. It will be fun and I am ready for the challenge.”

Man Utd are unlikely to be able to give Ruben Amorim any new signings in the January transfer window, according to reports.

The Red Devils sacked Erik ten Hag last week before replacing him with Sporting Lisbon boss Ruben Amorim, who will officially join on November 11.

Man Utd have turned to the Sporting Lisbon boss as they attempt to turn a corner under Sir Jim Ratcliffe and INEOS’ guidance.

INEOS decided to stick with Ten Hag over the summer but recent results and performances saw them sack the Dutchman with Man Utd currently 13th in the Premier League table.

Man Utd have struggled to find a manager since Sir Alex Ferguson who can get them challenging for the Premier League title with Jose Mourinho guiding them to second place in 2018 – but they were still 19 points behind champions Man City.

And Man Utd supporters will be hoping they can gradually start to put in performances that make them look capable of challenging for the Premier League title again in the near future.

The Red Devils spent around £200m on improving the squad for Ten Hag in the summer transfer window and that could mean that there is little left to give Amorim in the January market.

Former Man City financial adviser Stefan Borson claims that Man Utd will have spent around £37.5m to swap Ten Hag for Amorim over the last week.

Speaking last week, he told Football Insider: “This is almost something United have had to deal with every three years since Sir Alex Ferguson left.

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“It is quite important this time around because we know that they were close to the PSR limit last season. I think they probably passed quite narrowly, so we therefore know what the starting point was for this season.

“The bottom line is, if you add likely to be an exceptional cost of about £35million, maybe £37.5million in total, clearly that’s going to cut dramatically any buffer that they have got for PSR this season, especially if the side remains down the table.

“We know that the Premier League payments per position that you get is about £3million. At the moment, those two things are playing against them in terms of their forecast for 2024-25 PSR. But of course, they have got plenty of time.”

And now Football Insider claims that Man Utd have dealt a ‘crushing January blow’ to Amorim as Borson reveals that

“Their ability to keep having other costs going against them is pretty limited for this season now,” Borson told Football Insider.

“They will have to consider what they can do in January. I think it’s going to be very difficult for them to make signings in January without selling first.

“We know that the costs in January because of the way the amortisation works, you would only have half of one year of the costs of a player transfer, so it’s not impossible that you also then have some substantial wages for that half-year as well in the 2025 accounts.

“I think they have got pretty limited leeway now for the rest of the year. They are going to have to try and get up that table and qualify for the latter stages of the Europa League.”