New Man Utd boss Ruben Amorim has made Barcelona centre-back Andreas Christensen his ‘priority’ in the winter transfer window, according to reports.
The Red Devils appointed Amorim at the beginning of this month to succeed Erik ten Hag after the Dutchman could only lead Man Utd to three wins from their opening nine Premier League matches.
Ruud van Nistelrooy put another four points on the board during his two matches as interim boss to boost the Red Devils up to 13th in the Premier League table.
And Amorim could only help his new side to a 1-1 draw at Ipswich Town on Saturday with Man Utd moving up one place to 12th on Sunday.
Amorim was “frustrated” with a number of his Man Utd players against the Tractor Boys at the weekend and the Portuguese coach is already hoping to bring in new faces in the January transfer market.
Reports in Spain claim that Amorim is keen to bring in a new centre-back in the winter despite Ten Hag signing Leny Yoro and Matthijs de Ligt in the summer transfer window.
And Barcelona defender Christensen has emerged as his ‘winter priority’ as he looks to ‘shore up his defence’ and the Red Devils’ ‘intention is clear: to sign him for free in January’.
The transfer would ‘ease salary tensions’ at Barcelona while allowing Man Utd to strengthen their backline, although Christensen is currently recovering from Achilles problems which is expected to keep him out until the new year.
The report adds:
‘Although Christensen has proven to be an important part of the Barça defence, his high salary , combined with the club’s financial problems, makes his departure a viable option, especially if United offer to cover his salary in full.
‘Amorim has no doubts: he wants the Dane in January, taking advantage of his recovery period to adapt him to his tactical scheme. However, the decision will not be easy , since the loss of Christensen would weaken a defence that does not have many alternatives.’
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Reflecting on Man Utd’s performance against Ipswich during his post-match press conference in East Anglia, Amorim said: “It is hard to expect anything now.
“It is not a surprise but you see in-game. That is why I was a little bit anxious, because you cannot understand what will happen in the game. I felt that. I felt that they were trying. They were thinking too much in the game and that is normal.
“We start very well, but then we should have more possession with the ball and kept more of the ball. Sometimes, you have more of the ball in the defence and the rest of the guys were too stuck because they were thinking where they should be.
“This is the first point, when we make a new structure and we are so clear on that, they need time to have some fluidity in the game. I felt that, but it is [just] two training [sessions] and they did OK.”
