New Man Utd boss Ruben Amorim is supporting the Premier League club’s plan to re-sign Angel Gomes in the summer, according to reports.

The Red Devils replaced Erik ten Hag – who could only guide Man Utd to three wins in their opening nine Premier League matches – with Amorim earlier this month as they aim to change their fortunes on the pitch.

Amorim has a tough job on his hands with the Red Devils currently 13th in the Premier League table after interim boss Ruud van Nistelrooy put an extra four points on the board in his two matches in charge.

The Portuguese coach’s first match in charge is on Sunday against newly-promoted Ipswich Town at Portman Road with Kieran McKenna’s side winning their last match 2-1 against Tottenham.

Amorim reportedly intends to use the 3-4-3 formation, which served him well at Sporting Lisbon, and it could take a while for the new Man Utd boss to implement his ideas on the training ground with a busy festive schedule on the horizon.

Man Utd could attempt to bring in new players in the January transfer market, where they can afford them, but it is likely that Amorim will have to wait until the summer for any serious signings.

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And now The Sun claim that Amorim is ‘backing’ Man Utd as they look to re-sign Lille midfielder Angel Gomes on a free transfer before next summer.

Former Old Trafford academy product Gomes – who is also a transfer target for Tottenham – ‘remains a major target’ under the new Man Utd boss and ‘transfer gurus Dan Ashworth and Jason Wilcox believe the four-cap England star can be a crucial part of new boss Amorim’s masterplan for success’.

The report adds: ‘The Portuguese coach is right behind the possible move because he is a long-time admirer of the 24-year-old midfielder.’

Speaking last month, Gomes hinted at a potential return to Man Utd: “There’ll always be that sentimental soft spot, so of course it’d be difficult to say no.”

But former Arsenal defender Lee Dixon reckons Gomes would suit a move to the Gunners in the summer as Man Utd could face a fight for his signature.

Dixon told plejmo.com: “He’s a very good link-up player and we’ve seen that he can play alongside Declan Rice.

“He’s got a lot of potential and although there will be plenty of clubs looking at him, I could see him at Arsenal next season.”

There are back-up keepers but also a record transfer and a Manchester United jewel among the Premier League summer signings we have still yet to see debut.

Neto (Arsenal)
Considering the Brazilian promised to “give everything for Arsenal” when he joined, supporters will be in for a treat when Neto is rolled out for the FA Cup third round. It seems unlikely his “dream” involved forming his own grooves on the bench but the life of a back-up goalkeeper chose him.

Aaron Ramsdale needed replacing and his opportunities last season are instructive: 11 appearances, of which six were after early September, with a further three of those coming against Brentford.

With David Raya’s feet firmly settled under the Emirates table after his initial loan spell – and Neto being cup-tied in the Carabao – some already meagre minutes as Arsenal’s stand-in keeper are only further diminished. But that debut in a chastening defeat away at lower-league opposition in January will be special.

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Igor Thiago (Brentford)
Only Tottenham have scored more Premier League goals this season than Brentford, but while Dominic Solanke has made a telling contribution as his new club’s record signing, the Bees have reached remarkable levels of proficiency entirely without theirs.

Thomas Frank is “looking forward to getting him in the team, to have extra firepower up front,” but Yoane Wissa and Bryan Mbeumo have hardly struggled in Igor Thiago’s absence.

The Bees announced his £30m arrival in January and lost the forward to a knee injury in July. Between his new teammates embracing the goal burden and Ivan Toney’s risible form in the second half of last season, Thiago should not actually feel too much pressure to hit the ground running.

Gustavo Nunes (Brentford)
Flying in under Thiago’s radar was Gustavo Nunes, a fellow Brazilian signed from Gremio for a not inconsiderable £10m. The pair have bonded in no small part because of injuries, which have stunted matters on the playing side but at least allowed for time to acclimatise to a new country away from the spotlight.

There is hope from Frank that their relationship “will also materialise on the pitch”, with the trickery of winger Nunes complementing the physical, aggressive centre-forward stylings of Thiago. Their respective appearances in a recent in-house friendly suggest that theory could be put to the test soon.

Omari Kellyman (Chelsea)
“I’m buzzing to have put on the shirt and can’t wait to get started,” said a teenager seemingly blissfully unaware of his role as a pawn in some PSR-taking antics this summer.

The story is common knowledge. Aston Villa signed Kellyman for £600,000 in March 2022. He played 148 first-team minutes, the vast majority of which came in a Europa Conference League qualifying play-off. His value nevertheless soared by more than 3,000% when Chelsea came calling in June 2024 – purely coincidentally a) at the same time Ian Maatsen was traded between the two clubs and b) in time for it to appear on the relevant financial accounts.

A long-term hamstring injury has largely spared Kellyman the ignominy of being a £19m signing reserved purely for U21 duty and allowed everyone to keep up the pretence that he might have played. Mind you, with his Europa Conference League pedigree the continent’s giants would have been quaking.

Asmir Begovic (Everton)
Fair play to Begovic, who played ten games in two seasons after joining Everton as a free agent in 2021, then moved to QPR and played all but their final match of the 2023/24 Championship campaign, before returning to Goodison Park to not play at all. Keep up the hustle, fella.

Armando Broja (Everton)
The next locker along at Finch Farm belongs to Broja. Probably. Not sure really. It definitely isn’t Oumar Niasse’s. Sean Dyche might not even believe in woke nonsense like lockers or personal possessions.

Broja would at least be used to having some first-team facilities taped off after spending a short time among Enzo Maresca’s exiled few at the start of the season. That cannot have come as a surprise for a player who could most recently be found on Fulham’s bench.

The Albanian is yet to make it that far for Everton due to an Achilles injury which scuppered a proposed move to Ipswich but the Toffees were ready to sanction with a £30m buy option as long as Chelsea paid his wages until he regained fitness. All parties will hope that direct debit can end soon.

Michael Golding (Leicester City)
In some more understated summer asset-shifting, Chelsea shipped Michael Golding over to Leicester for £5m soon after signing £30m Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall.

The 18-year-old is “just loving life at Leicester” and likely arrived with no guarantees over game time as a player with one senior career minute dropped into a Premier League relegation battle with a promoted club under a new manager.

Leny Yoro (Manchester United)
In Old Trafford terms, following in the footsteps of Wilfried Zaha is not to be advised. The bar is certainly low for Leny Yoro as a Manchester United player who never featured for the manager who signed him.

Erik ten Hag cited Yoro as a player he needed time and patience to “build” but fate dictated that the Dutchman expended both virtues by the time those foundations could be properly laid. The centre-half was injured within half an hour of his first game in pre-season, a week after joining, and has only recently returned to full training.

Those tantalising clips of Ruben Amorim’s first session with his new squad included a generous helping of Yoro footage; it can be fairly safely assumed that a £58.9m defender might be prominent in plans for both the immediate and long-term future.

John Ruddy (Newcastle United)
Eddie Howe felt Ruddy “has a huge amount of experience and adds a level of support and competition that we need”. Newcastle have four other first-team keepers so the 38-year-old better have plenty of “support” to give.

Wes Foderingham (West Ham United)
Thomas Kaminski is the only goalkeeper to ever concede more goals in a single Premier League season (85) than Foderingham, who shipped 79 as both surrendered themselves to Premier League relegation in 2023/24.

Except Foderingham decided he was no longer about that life and the 33-year-old instead parlayed some historically dreadful numbers into his transition to full-time third-choice goalkeeper. But he might have made a mistake picking West Ham: their form and Alphonse Areola’s recent absence has promoted Foderingham to the bench, perilously close to the actual action.

Bastien Meupiyou (Wolves)
Even if the 18-year-old himself had not been swept up by the current centre-half injury crisis engulfing Wolves, it seems unlikely that Bastien Meupiyou would have been deemed a possible solution.

Wolves rate the Frenchman particularly highly – sporting director Matt Hobbs waxed lyrical about his “incredibly high ceiling” a couple of months ago – but these are not conducive circumstances into which a new player should be introduced.

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According to reports, Manchester United have made Everton defender Jarrad Branthwaite their ‘top’ target ahead of the winter transfer window.

Branthwaite shone for Everton last season, enjoying a breakout season for his boyhood club following his impressive loan spell in the Eredivisie with PSV Eindhoven.

Man Utd made the 22-year-old their top target during the summer transfer window as it was their priority to sign new centre-backs after they were ravaged by injuries last season.

The Premier League giants had a couple of bids rejected for the Everton starlet and moved on to different targets after being priced out of a move for the Englishman.

Instead of Brantwaite, Man Utd invested around £100m to sign Leny Yoro and Matthijs de Ligt from Lille and Bayern Munich respectively.

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The Red Devils have appointed Ruben Amorim to replace Erik ten Hag and their new head coach is set to implement is preferred 3-4-3 formation.

This could lead to Man Utd re-entering the market for a new centre-back in January and a report from The Daily Mail claims Branthwaite ‘tops their Christmas list’ after Amorim demanded the Englishman as one of three signings.

The report says Branthwaite ‘continues to pique the interest of Man Utd’ and ‘more talks have been held’ regarding the possibility of making a move in January.

Though it also is noted that United’s ‘fundamental issue’ is ‘they need to sell players to generate necessary funds to consider buying new ones’.

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United sporting director Dan Ashworth is said to be the ‘driving force’ behind their interest in Branthwaite and two exits could increase their chances of signing him in the winter.

‘Jonny Evans and Victor Lindelof are both out of contract at the end of the season while Harry Maguire has a 12-month extension option on his deal, which is set to see his contract run until 2026.

‘Sources have stressed that United must sell to help finance any move for Branthwaite and ideally money is generated from centre back sales, which makes the handling of Maguire’s deal moving forward an area of interest.

‘An alternative would be funds raised by moving Antony on, who has struggled badly since his £82m move across from Ajax.

‘Over the past three seasons United have posted losses before tax of £312.9m and Ineos and the footballing board must continue to be creative to improve on-pitch performance while reducing costs to ensure they comply with the Premier League’s profitability and sustainability rules and UEFA’s financial sustainability regulations.

‘Following well-documented interest from United over the summer, Branthwaite has since refused to sign a new contract at Goodison Park with Everton having held firm to their £70m valuation for the player.

‘He still has three years left on his current deal, understood to be worth around £70,000-a-week, but boss Sean Dyche recently admitted he is powerless to keeping his star defender if the right offer arrives.’