Man Utd star ecstatic at Amorim arrival, as top United source backs big-money signing to thrive

A top Manchester United source has outlined why Manuel Ugarte will be ‘rubbing his hands together’ at the thought of Ruben Amorim’s arrival, and the Uruguayan could soon return to being among the ‘top one percent’ of all midfielders in Europe.

Amorim, 39, is poised to become Man Utd’s next permanent manager. An agreement between the Sporting CP boss and Man Utd has been struck. The Red Devils have also signalled they will activate Amorim’s €10m release clause.

When Amorim will take the reins is still uncertain amid claims of a 30-day notice period he must serve at Sporting. The Times as well as A Bola have reported Sporting will waive that notice period if Man Utd pay roughly €5m to buy out three members of Amorim’s coaching staff.

Nonetheless, barring any late hitches it now appears certain Amorim will become Erik ten Hag’s permanent successor.

And according to a fresh update from The Daily Mail’s Chris Wheeler – who specialises in covering Man Utd – Amorim’s arrival will be excellent news for Ugarte.

The combative midfielder has endured a slow start to life at Old Trafford following his £50.5m (add-ons included) arrival from PSG. But per Wheeler, Ugarte ‘will be rubbing his hands at the prospect of working with Amorim again.’

Ugarte previously shone under Amorim at Sporting CP between 2021-23. In fact, Ugarte’s 2022/23 campaign placed the destroyer in the top one percent of no fewer than SIX different metrics when compared to midfielders all across Europe.

In the 2022/2023 Primeira Liga under Rúben Amorim, 21-year-old Manuel Ugarte ranked in the top 1% of midfielders in Europe for the following p90 metrics…

✅ Pass completion [91.6%]
✅ Ball recoveries [9.38]
✅ Tackles + interceptions [6.81]
✅ Tackles attempted [4.63]
✅… pic.twitter.com/shwo8O8ywf

— Statman Dave (@StatmanDave) October 29, 2024

Who else will thrive under Amorim

Another clue Ugarte will be overjoyed at Amorim’s appointment comes from quotes from the player himself.

“We talked about things that have nothing to do with football,” Ugarte previously said when asked about Amorim. “I really like him, I learned a lot from him. I hope that in the future he will be my coach again.”

Despite his big-money arrival, Ugarte started just one Premier League match under Erik ten Hag. The likes of Casemiro and Christian Eriksen – who are both well past their prime – were favoured even in the injury absence of Kobbie Mainoo.

But with Amorim’s system and management bringing the best out of Ugarte at Sporting, it should come as no surprise to see the Uruguayan promoted to the starting eleven very shortly.

TEAMtalk has taken a look at five other Man Utd players aside from Ugarte who could benefit from Amorim taking charge.

The Portuguese operates with a 3-4-3 / 3-4-2-1 formation that will offer a route into the starting eleven for a centre-back other than Matthijs De Ligt and Lisandro Martinez.

Harry Maguire will fancy his chances of filling that void, though so too will the highly-rated Leny Yoro…

READ MORE: Six Man Utd players who could benefit from Ruben Amorim being appointed as next manager

Ruben Amorim to Man Utd latest

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➡️ Man Utd line up marquee January signing perfect for Ruben Amorim

➡️ Ruben Amorim to Man Utd delayed by two hurdles as Sporting CP president gets brazen

➡️ Second casualty of Amorim appointment named, with Man Utd to sweep clean

➡️ Amorim told Ten Hag problem he must ‘immediately’ fix, as Man Utd warned appointment is doomed to fail

➡️ Guardiola reacts to Man Utd pursuit of Amorim and sends classy Man City message to fired Ten Hag

Man Utd a graveyard for managers?

Amorim, like his predecessor Ten Hag, will be working in English football for the first time upon his appointment at Old Trafford. Some pundits – and indeed, other rival clubs who considered him – have expressed concern about Amorim only having coached in Portugal so far.

And recent history shows that many managers who didn’t have experience in England before taking the Man Utd job have found it challenging to sustain their reputations.

For example, Ten Hag was clearly more successful at Ajax than Man Utd, despite being able to win a couple of domestic trophies in England.

Before that, interim manager Ralf Rangnick oversaw one of the lowest win percentages of any Man Utd manager, faring worse than in his previous stints on various other touchlines.

In fact, the only manager here to have been brought to English football for the first time and improve their win percentage was a certain Alex Ferguson, an almost incomparable manager in the history of the club and British football on the whole.