All eyes may be on tomorrow evening, amid Manchester United’s bid to book their place in the Europa League final, although in the long-term, it is the summer transfer window that could prove make or break for the Ruben Amorim regime.
The United hierarchy will need to strike a balance between handing the Portuguese the appropriate tools for his specialised 3-4-3 system, albeit while avoiding a repeat of Erik ten Hag’s tenure, in which far too many of the Dutchman’s transfer dealings were manager-led.
While the move for Noussair Mazraoui ranks among the more successful of the club’s captures in recent times, you really do have to look back to Bruno Fernandes’ arrival in 2020 to see an overwhelmingly positive deal done at Old Trafford.
As club legend Gary Neville stated late last year, the playmaker is the “only” player in the post-Sir Alex Ferguson era to have lived up to expectations, with far too many high-profile moves having gone awry.
The INEOS era needs to begin to improve upon this wretched recent record, with perhaps United’s lowest ebb having come prior to the takeover, in the form of Wout Weghorst’s shock addition.
Wout Weghorst's record at Man Utd
For all the complications and controversy surrounding Cristiano Ronaldo’s second spell at Old Trafford – not least the striker’s explosive bombshell interview with Piers Morgan – it still represented a significant, shock downgrade to have replaced the free-scoring icon with that man Weghorst.
With Ronaldo departing on acrimonious terms, ahead of the 2022 World Cup, Ten Hag and co were forced to dip into the market for a new striker in January, particularly amid Anthony Martial’s continued injury woes.
Options in the winter window were unsurprisingly limited, with the Premier League side ultimately forced to settle on plucking Weghorst from his loan spell at Besiktas, having scored just two goals the year prior for Burnley.
While the towering Netherlands international was brutally mocked as the ‘worst player’ to have played for Manchester United, in the verdict of controversial broadcaster Richard Keys, he did enjoy the odd bright moment, having notably provided the assist for Marcus Rashford’s strike in the Carabao Cup final victory over Newcastle United.
Deployed in almost a number ten berth at times, the experienced marksman also came close to netting on the break in the 2-2 draw with Barcelona at Camp Nou, having at least shown signs of life despite his obvious limitations.
Those limitations, however, were exposed by his meagre return of just two goals and only three assists in 31 games in all competitions during his six-month stint in Manchester, having almost broken down in tears after clinching a long-awaited Old Trafford goal against Real Betis.
For a player of whom many expected little, Weghorst at least popped up with a few moments to cherish. The reverse looks to be true of one of those among Amorim’s current crop.
The Man Utd star in danger of looking worse than Weghorst
On the striker front, question marks continue to surround both Rasmus Hojlund and Joshua Zirkzee. That said, in the case of Hojlund, the young Dane did at least finish last season as United’s top scorer in all competitions, while Zirkzee, meanwhile, has scored seven times in an injury-curtailed debut campaign at the club.
Both men – as would be hoped considering their respective £64m and £36.5m transfer fees – have easily eclipsed the five goal involvements that Weghorst chalked up, although the same can’t be said of the man who arrived alongside Hojlund in 2023, Mason Mount.
Signed from rivals Chelsea on a £55m deal that summer, having had just a year left to run on his existing contract at Stamford Bridge, the Englishman initially looked like something of a coup, with Ten Hag having won the race for his signature ahead of both Arsenal and Liverpool.
A player who had provided a match-winning assist in the 2021 Champions League final, alongside notably reaching double figures for both goals and assists in the Premier League in 2021/22, Mount arrived in Manchester with real pedigree. As Ten Hag stated at the time, he is “a quality player”.
Sadly for all concerned, the marquee move has proven a real disaster to date, with the versatile midfielder the latest to seemingly be struck down by the club’s infamous number seven curse.
Whether he has simply been weighed down by taking on such an iconic jersey at the Theatre of Dreams, things really haven’t got going for Mount thus far, with the £250k-per-week asset having been repeatedly hampered by injury over the last two seasons.
Even when he has featured, the former Derby County loanee has hardly looked like nailing down a regular role for himself, with the 3-0 defeat to Athletic Bilbao showcasing a case in point.
Introduced off the bench with United hoping to see things out in comfortable fashion, Mount put in an erratic and over-eager performance in the closing stages, picking up a needless yellow card, while losing the ball on seven occasions from just 23 touches.
That was, to his credit, followed up by a goal against Brentford to open the scoring at the weekend, although even that strike cannot mask his grim overall return, having now scored just twice and contributed only one assist in 41 games to date – two fewer goals and assists than Weghorst, albeit having played nine more games.
Premier League
27
2
0
EFL Cup
2
0
1
FA Cup
2
0
0
Europa League
7
0
0
Champions League
2
0
0
Community Shield
1
0
0
Total
41
2
0
While it may seem harsh to compare Mount to Weghorst, considering the latter’s status as a striker, the former has largely operated as a number ten in the Amorim regime, albeit with little success. As previously mentioned, Weghorst also operated in that role under Ten Hag.
Considering the sizeable nature of Mount’s price tag too – the tenth highest in United’s history, as per Transfermarkt – it is difficult to view his capture as anything but a flop, with time running out to make his mark before the season is at an end.
Amorim, it would seem, still has ample faith in a player he described as a “proper footballer”, although with the likes of Matheus Cunha looking set to arrive this summer – amid reports that Mount could himself be on his way – the competition in the side is only set to increase.
Hopefully, for both his and United’s sake, the Cobham academy graduate can play a vital role in clinching Europa League glory…
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