Next up for Manchester United in the Premier League is a return home, where they’ll host Brighton & Hove Albion at Old Trafford. So far this season, Ruben Amorim’s side have been largely inconsistent, which has resulted in them sitting mid table after eight games.
It was a summer of high spending for the Red Devils, with Amorim and Co working hard on recruitment, especially in regards to the front line. Matheus Cunha was brought in from Wolves, with Benjamin Sesko and Senne Lammens also introduced to the squad, amongst others. Following the summer of incomings, there has also been considerable talk about players who could leave the club.
Casemiro is out of contract at the end of the season, while rumours built about Bruno Fernandes swapping the UK for Saudi Arabia, although his future at Old Trafford looks certain for now. Ahead of another week of Premier League action, Mirror Football takes a look at all the latest news coming out of United.
United boss Amorim has spoken on Kobbie Mainoo and Joshua Zirkzee amid speculation about their future.
Mainoo has not started once in the league this season and is keen for minutes ahead of the World Cup next year. He wanted a move on loan during the summer, but this was blocked by Amorim, who iterated that he must compete with Fernandes for a place in the starting XI.
Zirkzee has also found game time hard to come by, and it has simply not worked out for the Dutch attacker at Old Trafford. Therefore, there has been consistent speculation around their futures, with January set to be a busy one for United, who are also preparing to find a replacement for Casemiro, who could be on his way out next summer.
Amorim said he understands why the aforementioned duo would be frustrated with lack of minutes ahead of the World Cup: “That is normal. I also know that in our club everything is a lot of noise. You have to have news. Players are not playing. They want to play.
“Like you said, there’s a World Cup. There are agents that listen to the players talking all the time. So I understand that, but they are our players and we need everyone to have a good season.”
David Beckham has been approached to back a takeover of United, according to reports. There are rumours that a consortium hailing from the United Arab Emirates are preparing an offer to buy the Glazers’ majority share. Beckham is being asked to be an ambassador for the bid, it has been claimed.
Of course, Beckham already has his own business ventures in football, with his American club Inter Miami and a joint-ownership of Salford City with ex-teammate Gary Neville.
The Glazers reportedly want £5billion to sell their majority share in the club and should the consortium take over United, Beckham would be given the option of investing himself. Beckham has previously been critical of the Glazers and has openly admitted he would be interested in getting involved with the club.
Goalkeeper Senne Lammens has introduced a strange new rule in the changing room. The pre-match superstition forbids any mention of clean sheets. The Belgian international believes that talking about them will jinx his performance.
After keeping a clean sheet on his debut, perhaps there is method in the madness. Speaking to the Daily Mail, his brother Tom said: “According to him, that brings bad luck, I don’t send anything to Senne before the match about clean sheets.”
The superstitions don’t stop there either, as Brian Vandenbussche says, Lammens’ former goalkeeping coach at Antwerp.
“I didn’t like it either… You jinx it,” he explained. “I know it’s superstition, but don’t do it. Senne has things he does in a specific order before his warm-up.
“He always wanted me to stand ready before he went out. He did a fist bump with the other two goalkeepers and with me, that was important to him.
“Also, before the game, he went back to the bench because he needed me to give the drink bottles to him. He did it for me to give him the last couple of words of advice.”
