Man Utd give up on flop summer signing already

Carlo Garganese

• 29 Nov 2023 15:17 GMT
• 3 min read

Manchester United have already given up on summer signing Sofyan Amrabat, according to reports in Italy and England.

Both Sky Sport and The Guardian report that United are desperately disappointed with the performances of Amrabat since his summer transfer from Fiorentina.

It is accepted that United plan to sign a new defensive midfielder in January as they have given up on Amrabat being suitable as a first-team starter in the role.

Things have got so bad for Amrabat that he has been demoted to below 18-year-old novice Kobbie Mainoo in the pecking order, with the youngster starting the 3-0 win at Everton on Sunday.

Amrabat joined Manchester United from Fiorentina this past summer for an £8 million loan fee with the option to make the deal permanent for £21.4m.

The Moroccan established himself as one of Europe’s most admired central midfielders at Fiorentina last season, with Barcelona and Chelsea also trying to sign him earlier this year.

However, after recovering from injury upon joining Man Utd, Amrabat has struggled badly.

Initially he was played out of position at left-back by Erik ten Hag amidst an injury crisis in the position.

Amrabat struggled in the role and he was especially poor in the 3-2 home defeat by Galatasaray in the Champions League.

But the Moroccan has since also struggled since being moved to his preferred position at central midfield.

Ten Hag now believes that Amrabat is not at the level required and plans to sign a new defensive midfielder in January.

Amrabat at Fiorentina in 2022-23

Amrabat enjoyed a brilliant 2022-23 season, playing a pivotal role in Fiorentina reaching two cup finals; the Coppa Italia and the UEFA Europa Conference League.

Amrabat was arguably the best midfielder at World Cup 2022, playing a crucial role for a Morocco team that stunned everyone in reaching the quarter-finals

The 27-year-old produced a series of dominant performances in the centre of midfield as Morocco knocked out Belgium from the group stages, and then Spain in the last-16 and Portugal in the quarter-finals.

Morocco were finally beaten in the semis by France, before losing the third and fourth place playoff to Croatia.