Man Utd ‘ACCELERATE’ transfer after ‘next Garnacho’ suffers serious injury blow
Robin Bairner
- Updated: 29 Jul 2023 11:02 BST
- 6 min read
Manchester United are ready to step up their transfer chase for Fiorentina midfielder Sofyan Amrabat after Erik ten Hag lost one of his most impressive pre-season performers to injury.
Academy graduate Kobbie Mainoo has flown back from Man Utd’s summer tour of the USA after sustaining an ankle injury when he started the recent friendly loss to Real Madrid.
Mainoo is now set to miss the first part of the season, with the Manchester Evening News reporting that he could be out for around six weeks because of the problem.
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Given manager Erik ten Hag’s use of him in the friendly matches, the 18-year-old appears to have jumped into Man Utd’s plans for the new season, and as a result of his injury, the Red Devils are light in the midfield.
The Express reports that Mainoo’s injury will lead to the Red Devils picking up the pace to sign Amrabat, with the World Cup star a target of the Old Trafford club for several months now. The Morocco player is expected to cost around €30 million.
Donny van de Beek and Fred, who are not part of Ten Hag’s thinking, are still very much on the transfer list, with Real Sociedad and Ajax leading interest in the Netherlands star, while Lazio have entered the fray with Galatasaray to sign the Brazilian.
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Mainoo injury a blow to Ten Hag’s ‘Ajax’ plan
For Ten Hag, meanwhile, the injury to Mainoo represents a blow to his desire to introduce more academy players into the first team.
He has regularly spoken highly of the youngster, even going so far as to suggest that he can have the same first-team impact as Alejandro Garnacho has enjoyed at Old Trafford.
Following the news of Mainoo’s injury, Ten Hag promised the teenager that he will get more opportunities.
“I wanted to see what levels he could play. Against Arsenal, we were pleased with his performance. I wanted to see if he could repeat that, some days after, from then, we would have conclusions,” Ten Hag told MUTV.
Mainoo’s opportunities to impress, however, will grow fewer if and when Amrabat signs.
