Even by Manchester United’s standards, the 24 hours from Wednesday to Thursday was newsworthy.
The first team were eliminated from the League Cup by fourth-tier Grimsby Town on penalties. The ‘any port in a storm’ adage simply wasn’t true for United in the fishing town of Grimsby. United were abysmal in the first half and the players need to own that.
Coach Ruben Amorim was emotional in post-match interviews. He’s under serious pressure and support for him is nosediving from fans who have sung his name at games until now. A superb communicator, he doesn’t always express himself as he’d hope when emotional after games and, ultimately, still speaking in a second language.
Amorim has a must-win game against promoted Burnley at Old Trafford on Saturday. But only a week ago, was well within his rights to say that pre-season had gone well and that his team had produced a good performance (and lost) in the opening Premier League match to Arsenal. He and his team need wins over everything else and should have had one at Fulham, but for a missed penalty and the woodwork.
Calm is rare in United’s orbit and the next few days will see none as the transfer window concludes. Alejandro Garnacho, 21, will leave for Chelsea for a £40 million fixed fee plus a profit of any future sell on fee.
The last few days were spent haggling over the terms of the payments once United had got Chelsea up from their original offer of £25 million. United know that had things gone differently they wouldn’t have been selling Garnacho, let alone for £40 million – which is still the fourth highest fee United have got for a player.
He was an exciting academy product who cost only €150,000 after leaving Atletico Madrid. Garnacho scored goals, he played a lot of games, but he and his family made one too many public and private transgressions to be considered suitable material for what Amorim hopes to build with his team.
Fans didn’t like seeing him wearing an Aston Villa shirt, nor his brattish behaviour. It really wasn’t to his benefit for him or his family to be using social media.
Midfielder Kobbie Mainoo, 20, asked to go out on loan on Thursday following a meeting at the Carrington training ground. United won’t agree to this. Mainoo has turned down several offers of an improved contract from United over the past year. He also, not unreasonably, wants to play football. United’s view is that he’s under contract, needs to work hard, fight for his place and prove his coach wrong. United are also trying to address long standing issues of overpaying young players before they’ve reached their potential.
United like Mainoo, but Amorim has long maintained that he needs to do more. Napoli, Newcastle United and Roma all want Mainoo on loan, but United need him as cover and would only likely let him go for a substantial fee, if they can bring in another player who is as good or better than Mainoo, which isn’t easy.
Rasmus Hojlund is the third player who appeared in a wonderful photo of three players sitting on an a pitchside advertising hoarding after a goal at Old Trafford in 2023/24. It’s sad that all three haven’t played a bigger part in United’s future, but when you finish 15th in the league, as United did last season, tough decisions need to be made.
Hojlund, 22, is set to leave since United need money following more than £200 million spent on players this window. The Danish striker was told that United would listen to offers for him three weeks ago, but he has been sidelined ever since. He wants to stay at United but it’s clear that he’s not currently in his coach’s plans. Hojlund has suitors across several countries and is expected to leave.
Bundesliga side RB Leipzig, flush with money after selling Benjamin Sesko, to United, and moving his huge wages off their books, are interested. It’s understood that United value Hojlund at around €50 million, Leipzig around €35 million. A compromise could be reached. AC Milan are also interested in Hojlund, though for a loan with an option to buy rather than a straight purchase.
Newcastle United have expressed interest, as did Fulham, but he was thought to be too expensive for their wage structure. Italian champions Napoli, who could afford his wages, have also shown interest, more so since Romelu Lukaku’s injury.
That was the last 24 hours for United. Who knows what the next will bring?
