Now that Manchester United have hired Ruben Amorim as their new manager, we can expect the transfer rumor mill to run amok with all the ideas that the Portuguese coach is purported to have in bringing the Red Devils back to their rightful place as a perennial Champions League team.
Amorim is one of the most highly regarded young managers in world football, and pretty much every big club wanted to hire him before he ultimately decided to take the Manchester United job.
He’ll have to try to be a downgrade on Erik ten Hag, who somehow kept his job this summer despite leading Manchester United to their worst ever finish and the club having a new ownership group in charge.
There’s a strong belief that Amorim will reunite with his young stars at Sporting CP, but the coach has publicly stated his desire to avoid poaching his former club’s best players…that is, at least, until after January.
But Manchester United could be going for a few veterans to stabilize a side that sometimes looks totally out of sorts tactically without sufficient leadership or direction on the pitch.
Interestingly enough, The Mirror’s Felix Keith reports that Ruben Amorim is trying to persuade the folks at INEOS to sign Juventus defender Danilo, a former Manchester City and Real Madrid player.
Manchester United could sign Danilo as early as January on a pre-arranged deal, because the 33-year-old center back will be a free agent at the end of the 2024/25 season.
Although Man United signed two center backs this past summer in Leny Yoro and Matthijs de Ligt – and also figure to go back in for Everton star man Jarrad Branthwaite next summer – they actually could have a use for Danilo.
See, on paper, Danilo might seem like he runs in contrast to what Manchester United should be doing on the market, since he is a declining 33-year-old with limited athletic tools.
But Danilo was so good last season for Juventus that he was honestly their best performing defender, even above younger standouts Gleison Bremer (another Manchester United transfer target last summer) and this year’s breakout star Federico Gatti.
Danilo is an intelligent leader who is elite with the ball at his feet, and he is versatile enough to start at either fullback position, in a back four or a back three, or in the defensive midfield (he was great there under Andrea Pirlo).
Amorim wants to transition to a back three, and Danilo is an experienced player who stars as a wide center back in a three-man defense. As a free agent on cheap wages on a one-year deal, Danilo could be a low-risk, beneficial short-term signing to help Manchester United ease the transition.
