How Man Utd will line up with Hojlund and Amrabat

Suraj Radia

• Updated: 26 Jul 2023 16:43 BST
• 4 min read

Erik ten Hag is looking to add two new players to his Manchester United squad, with Rasmus Hojlund and Sofyan Amrabat thought to be at the top of his shopping list.

United have spent in excess of €115 million on Mason Mount and Andre Onana this summer and Ten Hag’s next priority is to finally secure a striker in Atalanta youngster Hojlund before opening talks with Fiorentina over a move for midfielder Amrabat.

An opening offer of €60m is set to be submitted for Hojlund, although Atalanta have set an asking price of €70m for the 20-year-old, while Amrabat could be available for €25m, although United face competition from Atletico Madrid among other sides for his signature.

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Should United pull off the double signing however, their team could look a lot different from the one that finished third last season, prompting FootballTransfers to look at just how Ten Hag might line-up his side for the start of the new campaign.

How will United line up with their new signings?

United largely lined up in a 4-2-3-1 last season and it is unlikely that Ten Hag will make any drastic changes to the team’s shape as his side continue to adapt to the Dutchman’s system.

However, United’s €55m signing of Onana from Inter will crucially allow Ten Hag to focus on building from the back, representing a significant upgrade on David de Gea, who left Old Trafford upon the expiry of his contract after 12 years with the club.

At right-back, Aaron Wan-Bissaka played himself back into Ten Hag’s squad after initially being considered surplus to requirements but, despite rotating between Diogo Dalot towards the end of last season, the latter is expected to be the first choice after penning a new five-year deal with United.

The rest of United’s defence has yet to be touched this summer, although Harry Maguire has lost the captains armband and could still leave the club, with Raphael Varane and Lisandro Martinez the undisputed starters at centre-back, while Luke Shaw will continue at left-back.

It is in midfield where things will start to change after Mount’s €65m switch from Chelsea, with the 24-year-old finally offering a true energetic box-to-box option in Ten Hag’s system, despite Christian Eriksen’s best efforts.

However, Casemiro will undoubtedly start next to Mount even if Amrabat were to arrive, with the Moroccan more likely to offer squad depth to the ex-Real Madrid man.

The signing of Mount means that United have more versatility in midfield and new skipper Bruno Fernandes will initially likely continue in the number 10 role, but he could also drop deeper and swap positions with his new teammate.

Meanwhile, Antony will hope to kick on at right-wing in his second season after his €95m signing last summer, while Marcus Rashford is fresh off committing his future to United on the back of his best goalscoring season ever from the left flank.

But the signing of Hojlund could be the most important for United after they struggled to get goals out of Wout Weghorst last year and, while the Dane only scored nine times in Serie A last season, his attributes lend him the potential to become a star up front in Ten Hag’s team.