Manchester United have endured their fair share of false dawns in recent times. In fact, the entirety of Erik ten Hag’s debut season at Old Trafford – third place, a return to the Champions League, a Carabao Cup triumph and a promise of better days to come – feels like a fitting example of exactly that.
Ten Hag’s second season, in contrast to his first, has been nothing short of a massive disappointment. The Red Devils finished bottom of a European group containing Galatasaray and Copenhagen. Their EFL Cup defence ended with a 3-0 home defeat to Newcastle.
And, on a run of one win in seven Premier League games, Manchester United are in danger of suffering their lowest-ever top-flight finish. Worse even than that David Moyes-led campaign back in 2013/14.
And if any player sums up Ten Hag’s crisis-ridden follow-up campaign, it’s a man the former Ajax boss pushed so hard to sign late in the summer transfer window.
READ MORE: Manchester United transfer history 2013 to present day
Manchester United will send Sofyan Amrabat back to Fiorentina
Sofyan Amrabat himself is a prime example of Man United’s tendency to start strong before stumbling off a cliff, that supreme debut performance against Crystal Palace back in September very much the exception rather than the rule as far as the Moroccan’s time at Old Trafford is concerned.
According to La Nazione, Man United have no plans to trigger the £21 million option-to-buy clause in Amrabat’s Fiorentina contract. That does not mean Amrabat will not still be playing Premier League football in 2024/25, however.
Fulham, turned down by the midfielder as he awaited a dream move to Manchester in August, remain interested. Sport Italia, via Tuttomercatoweb, say that The Cottagers are even preparing an offer in the region of £25 million.
And while that may raise eyebrows in West London – Amrabat has started only seven Premier League games even as Casemiro’s limbs wither away in front of our eyes – there is a feeling that the 2022 World Cup star could yet be a very effective presence in a team better suited to his skillset.
Amrabat thrived as the tough-tackling enforcer in Morocco’s deep-lying low-block in Qatar. A box-to-box Man United team playing something more akin to basketball than football at times merely highlights his weakest attribute – a lack of mobility – while wasting his strengths.
It is not too hard to imagine Amrabat finding form again in a well-organised, structured Fulham outfit, especially when you consider the tune Marco Silva has got out of Joao Palhinha and Sasa Lukic.
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Barcelona and Juventus were keen in January
Interestingly, Fabrizio Romano reported recently that Man United rejected the chance to terminate Amrabat’s loan in January, with two bonafide European giants expressing their interest at the time.
“In January, two clubs asked about the possibility of breaking the loan and signing Amrabat on a new loan for the January transfer window until the end of the season,” Romano said.
“The two clubs were, from what I heard, Juventus – Juventus asked for information on Amrabat but, for Fiorentina and Man Utd, it was a ‘no’ – and the same for Barcelona, who already wanted Amrabat one year ago.
“(Barca) asked about the possibility to return for Sofyan Amrabat in January. But it was again a ‘no’ from Man Utd. (They had) no intention to break that loan.”
It remains to be seen if either club plans to return in the summer.