Over the last year, several members of Manchester United’s senior squad have struggled to find their feet at Old Trafford, either as new signings, or with adapting to Ruben Amorim’s style of play.
The Portuguese manager arrived in Manchester in November 2024, inheriting a struggling squad from Erik ten Hag as the Dutchman had led United to finish 8th in the league, a record-worst finishing place in the Premier League era.
However, nothing really improved for the remainder of the season, as Amorim fought against the club’s current play style and 4-2-3-1 formation, to instil a 3-4-3 formation, going completely against the roles the squad had been built to fill.
As such, many members of the squad struggled to adapt, with the selection of talented wingers, including Alejandro Garnacho, Marcus Rashford, Jadon Sancho and Antony all being dispatched by the club.
Admittedly, Sancho and Antony had never justified their hefty price tags since arriving at Old Trafford, but other big-name players like Alejandro Garnacho and Marcus Rashford have fallen down the pecking order under the new manager, even being dropped from the squad for their attitude and approach.
Another player to fall down the pecking order is Kobbie Mainoo who thrived under Erik ten Hag, however doesn’t seem to fit in Amorim’s system, with the young midfielder even requesting a loan spell at the end of the summer to get more game time.
Whilst this was rejected by Manchester United, French outlet, ICI has now reported that United’s sister club OGC Nice approached The Red Devils to take the midfielder on loan for the season.
Both Manchester United and OGC Nice are owned by Sir Jim Ratcliffe’s INEOS, outright owning the Ligue 1 side, however holding a 28.9% stake at Old Trafford.
Despite these links, United had no intention of loaning out Mainoo to anyone, wanting him to fight for his place in the squad.
However, they did agree to loan out Rasmus Hojlund to Napoli, how was another one of their struggling stars which the report explains OGC Nice also wanted to take on loan.
It’s understood that although United rejected the approaches from Nice, they did offer an unnamed young star to the French club, who was not deemed appropriate by the Ligue 1 staff, so no further negotiations went ahead.
Now it’s reported that Ratcliffe is considering selling the French club, with the potential of a sale being reported previously, for the INEOS owner to concentrate more on The Red Devils.
