Manchester United have now joined the race to sign a star in the making who has already caught the attentions of Chelsea this year, with Ruben Amorim personally having recommended the signing.
Manchester United change transfer policy
There has been significant change at Old Trafford since Sir Jim Ratcliffe took charge of the Premier League giants at the start of 2024. A whole new club hierarchy has been established, with Jason Wilcox and Dan Ashworth poached from Southampton and Newcastle United respectively to take charge of transfer policy, while Omar Berrada arrived from Manchester City to take up the CEO role.
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The overhaul has also seen a change in the transfer policy itself, with the Red Devils now opting to sign younger players with higher potential rather than pre-established world-class stars, as they did under Erik ten Hag with the addition of Casemiro.
Though they signed five players for a combined £190m over the summer, only Noussair Mazraoui was over the age of 25, emphasising the shift in policy at the club.
|
Manchester United’s summer signings |
|
|---|---|
|
Player |
Age |
|
Leny Yoro |
18 |
|
Joshua Zirkzee |
23 |
|
Manuel Ugarte |
23 |
|
Matthijs de Ligt |
25 |
|
Noussair Mazraoui |
26 |
Though the change is yet to bear fruit, there is a long-term belief that targeting younger players will be a more successful operating model for the club, summed up by Ratcliffe explaining in March that “I would rather sign the next Mbappé rather than spend a fortune buying success.”
Now, he could be set to throw his hat in the ring for a star at the other end of the pitch.
Amorim wants Manchester United to sign Portuguese talent
Reports from Spain claim that Ruben Amorim has personally recommended Manchester United join the race to sign Benfica talent Tomas Araujo.
The defender is well known to Premier League clubs; Crystal Palace saw a summer offer rejected for his services, while Fabrizio Romano has claimed that Chelsea are “in love” with the Portuguese defender, who they were willing to bid for in the summer only for Benfica to inform them that he wasn’t for sale.
“Chelsea were considering to bring in a new centre-back. For example, a player they are in love with is Tomas Araujo at Benfica.”
“They were considering a move for him, but then nothing happened because Benfica were not selling an important player a few days before the end of the transfer window.”
Now, the report claims that Manchester United have joined the race for his services, but he won’t come cheap, with the report adding that “any deal for Araújo is estimated to be in the region of €50m” (£41m).
This could yet be higher, with Araujo having a €100m (£83m) release clause in his £9k-a-week deal in Portugal, while Benfica are unlikely to sell midway through the season.
With the futures of Harry Maguire, Jonny Evans and Victor Lindelof all unclear beyond this summer, United will likely be back in the market for another defender soon, and could do far worse than Araujo.
He was dubbed “potentially one of the best CBs” by football scouting account DanielScouting on X, who added: “He’s a technical maestro. His turns, dribbling, manipulation, & passing make you think he’s a CM,” and claimed he was already an “elite player”.
Able to play across the defence, he could be an excellent signing and a future superstar, but is more likely to be one for the summer.
