Manchester United shook up the footballing world by replacing Erik ten Hag with Ruben Amorim, firing one of world football’s most underperforming managers for one of world football’s most coveted.
Before taking the Manchester United job and agreeing to lead one of the sport’s shakiest and most ambitious rebuilding projects, Amorim had rejected easier jobs at Liverpool and Brighton.
Amorim values the position and upside of the Manchester United position despite the club’s poor record since Sir Alex Ferguson’s departure, and he checks off a lot of boxes as far as the kind of manager Man United are looking for.
Specifically, Amorim brings a much more aggressive attacking style and clearer attacking philosophy tactically than Ten Hag ever did, so young talents like Joshua Zirkzee, Rasmus Hojlund, Amad Diallo, and Alejandro Garnacho have to be especially excited about the Portuguese manager’s appointment.
But there’s a hidden winner of the Ruben Amorim hire, and that is a player in Liga NOS – but not someone Amorim coached at Sporting CP like Man United-linked stars Ousmane Diomande and Viktor Gyokeres.
Benfica left back Alvaro Fernandez Carreras has been generating significant interest from top clubs around world football like Liverpool and his former academy club Real Madrid.
But he was also with Manchester United as a youth player before his move to Benfica, where he made a name for himself in the mainstream with a big game in the Champions League as part of a 4-0 blowout win over former Champions League Finalists Atletico Madrid.
Manchester United hold a buy-back clause on Carreras, giving them an advantage over both rivals Liverpool and the mighty Real Madrid if they want to bring the Spanish international back as competition for Luke Shaw on the left side.
According to a report from Danny Rust and Dean Jones of Give Me Sport, Amorim could call for Manchester United to trigger the 7.7 million pound buy-back clause for Alvaro Fernandez, as he is keen on the 21-year-old defender after watching him closely at Benfica.
Manchester United have been starting Diogo Dalot as an inverted left back since the Noussair Mazraoui signing from Bayern Munich, and he has been excellent. Shaw and Tyrell Malacia are also competent left backs.
However, Carreras is younger than all of them and already better than Malacia and probably Shaw, particularly over the long term. Amorim’s hiring only makes it more likely the U23 talent earns a move to Old Trafford, where he could easily figure into the long-term starting plans as a left wing back in the new coach’s preferred 3-4-3 system.
