Forget Gyokeres, United should make £50m Sporting star their first signing under Amorim | OneFootball

Manchester United formally parted company with manager Erik ten Hag on Monday following the club’s 2-1 Premier League defeat at West Ham United.

The club are now in advanced talks with Sporting CP over Ruben Amorim. The Portuguese tactician has already given the green light to succeed Ten Hag.

It is only a matter of time before his appointment is confirmed.

Viktor Gyokeres is obviously the most high-profile player in Sporting’s squad, but it is debatable whether he can hit the ground running in the Premier League.

The Swede has been scoring for fun in Portugal with 41 goals and 10 assists in 42 league games, but he would face a sterner challenge in the English top flight.

With the added intensity and physicality of the division, Gyokeres could go in the same path as Liverpool’s Darwin Nunez, who arrived with a huge reputation from the Primeira Liga.

The Uruguayan netted 34 goals in his final campaign at Benfica, but he has managed just 35 goals in 105 appearances in all competitions for the Merseyside giants.

With this in mind, Gyokeres would be a risky acquisition. The club also would not want to hinder Rasmus Hojlund’s progress, who was purchased for big money.

The Red Devils should focus on landing defender Goncalo Inacio, who has been heavily linked with a move to arch-rivals Liverpool.

He was also mentioned as a top target for United for a couple of years, but the speculation has somewhat ceased after Lisandro Martinez arrived from Ajax.

Despite this, United should revive their pursuit if Amorim is appointed.

The 39-year-old prefers to play with a 3-4-3 or 3-4-2-1 set-up with three specialist centre-backs.

Inacio has the ability to play in any position in the back three, but he is most comfortable on the left-hand side. The 23-year-old has caught the eye with his forward runs.

He has averaged 77.4 passes per outing with an accuracy of 91 percent this season. He has completed 40 passes on average in the opposition half with a 90% success rate.

Inacio, who has a release clause worth £50 million in his contract, has also won 60% of his aerial duels with an average of 4.6 recoveries. 1.5 tackles and 1.4 interceptions per game.

United currently have just one specialist left-footed centre-back in Martinez. The Argentine is injury-prone and has featured in only 46 league games since his arrival in 2022.

Inacio would be a fine acquisition to provide strong competition to Martinez, and also to Matthijs de Ligt and Leny Yoro, who could be part of the back three.

Stats from Transfermarkt.com & Sofascore.com.