INEOS can give Amorim his own Man Utd sack by signing ‘special’ £84m ace

It wasn’t an easy start to life Manchester United manager for Reuben Amorim. The Portuguese boss has took over 11 games so far, winning just four of those games, drawing once and losing six.

One of the biggest problem points for the new manager of the Red Devils so far has been the ease of conceding goals. In the past 11 games, they scored 21 goals, a total of 1.9 per game.

Creatively, United have also struggled, scoring just 17 times under Amroim so far. One area that has been a problem for United so far is at wing-back.

Man United’s problems at full-back

The Red Devils have struggled with options at wing-back so far this season. Luke Shaw has been injured for most of the campaign and Tyrell Malacia has only recently returned from a horrific knee injury that kept him out for 18 months.

That mostly left only Diogo Dalot and Noussair Mazraoui as options at wing-back. After United’s last game, a 2-0 home defeat against Newcastle, Gary Neville was critical of them in an interview with Sky Sports.

The former United captain explained that “the two full-backs are not very good in the attacking part of the field”. He was talking about Dalot and Mazraoui, who started at left and right back.

Neville’s colleague from Sky Jamie Carragher dug up the stats after the Newcastle game which saw United fail to score in open play when either defender started at right-back. However, when players like Amad Diallo and Antony started there, they created nine chances.

Alarm bells must be ringing for Amor as this appears to be an issue that needs to be addressed quickly. In fact, the former Sporting boss could turn to his former player to solve the problem.

Man Utd are looking for a defender

Another point Neville made after the game against Newcastle at the end of 2024, it was necessary to strengthen in the full-back position. He explained that in the transfer window, United “must start with the basics of this system, which are the wing players”.

So the United legend could be happy to see his former club link up with the highly-rated Geovany Quenda. According to Rudy Galetti – as he reported at the end of December – the Red Devils are ‘among the clubs still following’ the youngster, along with Manchester City, Liverpool and Paris Saint-Germain.

Galetti reported that there is a chance the sides could ‘make concrete moves in January’ for the 17-year-old. He reportedly has an expensive £84m release clause in his current contract, according to the Daily Mail.

Quenda could be a dream addition for INEOS to hand over to Amor if they are looking for a more expansive right-back. He played there many times under the former head of Sporting, 18 to be specificand so far he has two goals and two assists.

This includes the attack against FC Porto in the Supertaca at the beginning of the season.

He was previously compared to one of the best strikers in world football, Bukayo Saka. Fabio Roque, coach of Sporting’s academy, he explained to Sky Sports that he reminds him of the Arsenal star, before pointing out that there is “only one Geovany Quenda”.

Indeed, comparisons can be drawn between the two speedsters early in their careers. Like Saka, Quenda is left-footed, with both players first breaking into the team as wing-backs.

If he has a career similar to that of Saka, young Sporting will go far. Arsenal’s number seven already has 250 appearances for the Gunnerswith 67 goals and 63 assists.

Quenda’s statistics from the 2024/25 season of the Portuguese first league courtesy of Sofascore are impressive. He created three big chances and averaged 1.6 key passes per game. The wing-back is also a hard worker with the ball, averaging 2.4 turnovers per game.

Although he is only 17 years old, the Sporting man is already being called a “special” talent like football scout Antonio Mango. Quenda could be the man to help turn United’s fortunes around under Amorim.

He knows the system he plays and is highly rated. For INEOS, it is a big investment, but perhaps a necessary one.