Ruben Amorim named Alejandro Garnacho as one of three Manchester United players who lack “quality” ahead of a summer in which he wants to bring in “two big players”.

Amorim arrived as United’s new head coach in November but has struggled to make the desired impact following the dismissal of Erik ten Hag, with the Red Devils sitting 13th in the Premier League table ahead of their clash with Manchester City on Sunday.

It’s widely accepted that the Portuguese boss needs new recruits this summer as the current crop struggle to adapt to his philosophy and system.

And Amorim confirmed ahead of the Manchester derby that he wants to bring in a couple of “big players”.

“We need to be really good in recruitment,” said Amorim. “We need to know our system, the way we play, and the players have to be perfect for that position. We know what to do, we will see next season.

“I just want to focus on our strengths and bring one or two players, big players.

“We need to focus, we are doing all the stuff to be next season so much better. In my idea, I cannot manage this thing of ‘in four years we will try something’. We need to be so much better. This is a massive club

“It’s characteristics that we don’t have in our squad, trying to see the gaps, when I say big players I’m not saying from Real Madrid etcetera, it’s big players in the way I see the game.”

Garnacho has been heavily linked with an exit since Amorim joined the club having been one of the players to have struggled most to cope with his change of role in the side, with the new boss asking him to play as an inverted forward.

And Amorim admits “something is missing” in the Argentinian’s game right now, claiming he and his fellow forwards “are not doing things with the quality they should do”.

“I think they need to spend more time in that position because we didn’t have a lot of games like Nottingham, like just attacking. We have to spend more time there,” Amorim said.

“And also in that moment, if you look at Rasmus (Hojlund) and Josh (Zirkzee) and Garna (Alejandro Garnacho) they want this, they try to shoot – especially Garna.

“They want it really bad, but we are not doing the things with the quality that they should do. So sometimes it’s hard to explain because we have the situations, everybody knows where Garna wants to put the ball, but something is missing and maybe it’s just the moment of the players.”

MORE MANCHESTER UNITED COVERAGE ON F365
👉 Five ex-Man Utd stars for INEOS to target this summer with David De Gea return ‘seriously considered’
👉 Man Utd target Liam Delap told to snub Red Devils to join Nottm Forest for three reasons – ‘perfect fit’
👉 Man Utd ‘receive’ £64m ‘offer’ to sell one star with ‘new destination’ as Euro giants ‘lead’ transfer race

Amorim has though been impressed by the impact of Ayden Heaven, who joined the club from Arsenal for £1.5m in January.

“We have to give credit to Jason [Wilcox – Man Utd technical director]. Jason did a great job. He’s paying attention to those details,” Amorim added.

“Ayden is a kid that arrives here, worked really well and then with some injuries, he had the opportunity and shows a lot of qualities. So that can also change your recruitment.

“So if we we’re thinking ‘Licha [Lisandro Martinez] has an injury, we need a left-footed centre-back’, but now we have this kid, so we can save money for another thing. So that is really important and the door is open for young kids.”

Roy Keane disagreed with Ruben Amorim over the Manchester United head coach’s assertion that his side has shown ‘progress in recent performances’ ahead of their clash with Manchester City on Sunday.

United lost 1-0 to Nottingham Forest last time out in the Premier League but were unbeaten in their previous four league games, with draws against Everton and Arsenal as well as victories over Ipswich and Leicester.

They also saw their way past Real Sociedad during that run to qualify for the quarter-finals of the Europa League in what has undoubtedly been Amorim’s best spell at Old Trafford since arriving in November.

But few would disagree with it being a disappointing tenure in general, with United sitting 13th in the Premier League table having lost 13 and won just ten of their 30 top flight games so far this season.

Amorim was positive in his programme notes though, claiming ‘it is clear to see we are making progress in our performances’ and Keane was asked whether he agrees with Manchester United boss on Sky Sports ahead of the Manchester derby.

“Not from what we’re seeing,” Keane said. “We don’t know whether he’s seeing something on the training ground – a bit more spirit and a bit more fight.

“But I’ve not seen it in the few games I’ve watched recently. After the Forest game they got a few plaudits for their possession and being neat and tidy, but when people say they’re neat and tidy, what the hell does that mean?

“It’s really important to score goals in football. Obviously the attacking players aren’t doing the business and that’s where they’ve been really lacking. I think even Wolves have scored more goals than them. So that’s a huge problem.

MORE MANCHESTER UNITED COVERAGE ON F365
👉 Five ex-Man Utd stars for INEOS to target this summer with David De Gea return ‘seriously considered’
👉 Man Utd target Liam Delap told to snub Red Devils to join Nottm Forest for three reasons – ‘perfect fit’
👉 Man Utd ‘receive’ £64m ‘offer’ to sell one star with ‘new destination’ as Euro giants ‘lead’ transfer race

“They’re not dynamic, they’re not mobile. They showed a little bit of spirit a couple of weeks ago at home to Arsenal but the standard of the game wasn’t great and there was no edge to it.

“So I don’t see where the manager is coming from. I’ve not seen much progress. And the fact is they don’t dig in, they lose too many matches – 13 already this season, 14 last year – so even when they’re not at their best they don’t dig in, they don’t roll their sleeves up, I don’t like the spine of the team.”

This United side have a reputation of raising their levels for big games though and beat City at the Etihad through two late Amad Diallo goals in December having got the better of them in the FA Cup final at the end of last season.

And Keane admits that despite his reservations over the so-called progress of the Red Devils he believes “they’ll get a result today and find some sort of spark”.

Amid reports that Manchester United are ‘considering’ a summer re-signing, we’ve identified five ex-Red Devils for INEOS to target in the next window.

David De Gea
De Gea is the former Red Devil who is reportedly lined up for a shock Old Trafford return, with the Premier League giants admitting his exit was a ‘mistake’.

Man Utd opted against extending De Gea’s contract in 2023 as former boss Erik ten Hag preferred a ball-playing goalkeeper and reunited with Andre Onana after they worked together at Ajax.

De Gea was thrust into the deep end at Man Utd before he was physically or mentally ready, but he grew into the No.1 role and became the world’s best goalkeeper before declining en route to leaving.

Onana, meanwhile, joined Man Utd as a more experienced goalkeeper and had an impressive debut season, albeit via a couple of disasters in the Champions League.

But Onana’s form has fallen off a cliff this season and Ruben Amorim reportedly cannot wait to get rid. A younger model will likely be preferred to De Gea, but the 34-year-old – with ten clean sheets in 27 Serie A games – is enjoying a swansong at Fiorentina and would not be a bad short-term solution and a cheap stop-gap with INEOS looking to save wherever they can.

READ: Man City FFP, Liverpool bottle it, Ange sack, Man Utd glory: Five ways to save this season

Alvaro Carreras
As worrying as Onana’s decline is, Man Utd’s summer transfer priorities will lie elsewhere. A new striker likely leads the way with Amorim’s current crop being relegation-calibre, but they still need to sign one or two wing-backs capable of playing in the head coach’s preferred system.

£25m January signing Patrick Dorgu has proven to be useful with Luke Shaw and Tyrell Malacia stuck in the treatment room, while Diogo Dalot and Noussair Mazraoui do not possess the necessary attacking capabilities to deliver on what Amorim demands from his wing-backs in the final third.

It is typical of United, with their endless stream of transfer calamities, that they offloaded Carreras, a wing-back with eight goal involvements in 2024/25 and perfect for Amorim’s formation, only a few months before the head coach replaced Ten Hag.

The 22-year-old has attracted admiring glances from Barcelona this season, but Man Utd’s buy-back clause – worth around £16m – allows them to spare their blushes with a low-cost return transfer, which should be a no-brainer.

MORE MAN UTD COVERAGE ON F365…
👉 Arsenal ‘willing to make a strong bid’ for Man Utd flop as Berta looks to complete deal ‘ASAP’
👉 Man Utd star Mainoo ‘open’ to contract talks as Ratcliffe performs major U-turn to quintuple wages
👉 ‘From what I hear’ – Man Utd insider reveals latest on potential £90m transfer exit

Angel Gomes
As alluded to above, Man Utd will be working on a shoestring budget (unless these six stars bring in £231m combined) this summer and may even be forced to enter the free-agent market with several once-valuable assets due to leave their current clubs.

United won’t be able to sign Mohamed Salah or Virgil van Dijk, but they could give England international Gomes – who is “100%” leaving Lille – another opportunity to establish himself at his boyhood club.

The 24-year-old did not feature at all on our latest England ladder, as Thomas Tuchel was clearly not sold on Lee Carsley’s experiment, but the central midfielder more than held his own for The Three Lions after following in the footsteps of Jude Bellingham and co. in developing away from prying eyes in the Premier League.

Man Utd’s midfield could look very different next season with Casemiro possibly following Christian Eriksen in heading for an exit, and Gomes would bolster Amorim’s squad with his ability to operate as a playmaker from deep and in advanced positions.

READ: Rashford ‘could play for Manchester United again’ – if finger-pointing Ruben Amorim suddenly resigns

Scott McTominay
Napoli have benefitted from Man Utd’s “misprofiling” of McTominay, who has been a revelation for the Serie A giants this season.

Man Utd have been poked and prodded by the Italian media, with the translation presumably reading: ‘What the f*** were United thinking when they sold McSauce?’.

Despite most of McTominay’s best moments for Man Utd coming in an attacking position, former coaches did not persist and foolishly used the £25m star as a No.6 or even at centre-back on occasion.

Former Chelsea and Spurs head coach Antonio Conte has exposed Man Utd’s mistake, with McTominay contributing seven goals and four assists in his debut season in a Frank Lampard-esque roaming role.

This transfer won’t happen, but Amorim could right the wrongs of previous management by using McTominay to regularly score and provide assists in one of two supporting positions behind whoever is brought in to replace Rasmus Hojlund and Joshua Zirkzee.

Anthony Elanga
Two of Man Utd’s many transfer mistakes were exposed by Elanga, who easily brushed Alejandro Garnacho aside to score a stunning winner for Nottingham Forest against Man Utd in midweek.

The Red Devils cashed in on Elanga for a measly £15m as they felt forced to somewhat balance the books after spunking £86m on Antony, and his sensational form for Forest since proves his former club left a lot of much-needed cash on the table with this pure profit sale.

Man Utd must regret investing in Antony over Elanga after their embarrassing misjudgment and their toothless attack would certainly be less shoddy with the Forest standout still in the mix.

Elanga has been lethal on the counter-attack this season, and he also may not have reached his ceiling yet. He’d be daft to leave Champions League-bound Forest for Man Utd. Amorim is surely cursing Ten Hag for letting the red-hot winger slip away for peanuts after his big moment on Tuesday night.