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Manchester United huffed and puffed and were made to work extremely hard but ended up securing all three points against Wolverhampton Wanderers in their Premier League opener.
United struggled to contain the counter-attacks that Wolves kept springing and the player that struggled the most was Casemiro who was almost left alone to deal with the Wolves threat.
Both Mason Mount and Bruno Fernandes were playing so high up the pitch and neither dropped deep to support their teammate to deal with the Wolves threat.
Casemiro struggled vs Wolves
Matheus Nunes and Matheus Cunha ran the Brazilian ragged and it was easy to see that the former Real Madrid star was unable to cope on his with the pace and intensity.
During pre-season, Erik ten Hag was utilising the super-talented United academy graduate Kobbie Mainoo as part of the double pivot alongside Casemiro and that worked in the game against Arsenal.
United have huge games against Tottenham Hotspur and Arsenal coming up within the next couple of weeks and it clear to see that Ten Hag needs to bring in another midfield general to ease the pressure off Casemiro.
United have been long linked with Sofyan Amrabat of Fiorentina but were waiting to raise money through player sales before going in for the Moroccan.
After what Ten Hag saw on Monday, a move for Amrabat is expected to accelerate in the coming days. As per La Repubblica, United are expected to “lunge for the midfielder” soon.
“Manchester United remains interested in Sofyan Amrabat and in these hours is conducting some outgoing transfers that could allow the English club to concentrate on the lunge for the midfielder.
“The agreement with the Moroccan already exists and Fiorentina does not budge from the request for around 30 million euros to let him go.”
Another outlet Fiorentina.it have relayed the words of La Nazione and they say that United’s offer is likely to “arrive in the next few days” now that Fred has left the club and Donny van de Beek is also in talks over an exit.
Amrabat to the rescue?
“The hope, as La Nazione writes, is that the long-awaited offer for the Moroccan from Manchester United may arrive in the next few days.
“They are convinced of it in England, given that the Red Devils have sold Fred to Fenerbahce and are about to get rid of Van de Beek as well.”
Amrabat is said to have closed doors to all possible alternative destinations and only has United in his mind. Hopefully, these reports will come true before the window closes on September 1.
United certainly need another defensive midfielder and Amrabat would be the ideal fit considering the rapport he shares with Ten Hag and the superlative season he enjoyed last term.
