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Manchester United’s form this season has suffered majorly due to the numerous injuries picked up by key personnel with manager Erik ten Hag hardly ever having the luxury of picking his strongest XI.
The midfield has been a major source of consternation with all the big-name players like Casemiro, Christian Eriksen, and new signing Mason Mount all suffering long-term injuries.
The Brazilian’s absence has been most keenly felt with deadline day arrival Sofyan Amrabat failing to fill the void in his absence.
The former Real Madrid superstar is close to a return and it will be interesting to see which version of the player makes it onto the pitch — last season’s midfield destroyer or the one who struggled to track back earlier this season.
Midfield woes
The manager’s tactics of trying to win back possession higher up the pitch is also not helping matters and due to the Brazil international’s age, it has become difficult for him to effectively shield the back four without any form of support.
INEOS, who are set to take charge of sporting affairs at the club, are not too happy at the amount of money thrown at the five-time Champions League winner to convince him to come to Old Trafford.
There is a growing feeling his time in Manchester might soon come to an end, probably next summer with Saudi clubs chasing his signature.
United have an alternative in mind — Oscar Zambrano of LDU Quito who has been dubbed “the next Moises Caicedo”.
And the Red Devils do not want to repeat their previous mistake when they opted not to sign Caicedo and he instead joined Brighton and Hove Albion where he impressed enough to earn a move to Chelsea for an eight-figure sum.
United are not the only team chasing his signature with El Futbolero reporting that Luton Town and the Seagulls are in the race while Fabrizio Romano has added Bournemouth’s name to the list.
🚨🍒 EXCL: Bournemouth are set to send bid for LDU Quito talented midfielder Óscar Zambrano (2004).
The initial proposal will be $5.5m in order to sign the Ecuadorian midfielder.
Bournemouth, working on it. 🇪🇨 pic.twitter.com/3Hu8eC8puG
— Fabrizio Romano (@FabrizioRomano) January 4, 2024
Brighton are known for their deals for little-known South American gems and the Reds should not let them steal a march this time around.
“This time we are going to talk about Óscar Zambrano, an Ecuadorian midfielder with a great future ahead of him.
Zambrano race
“Although in recent months we have been reporting on a possible signing of the current University Sports League player to Luton Town of the Premier League, once the winter transfer market opened, two more interested clubs emerged — Manchester United and Brighton & Hove Albion.
“It is worth mentioning that Manchester United does not want to repeat the same mistake it made by passing up the opportunity to sign Moisés Caicedo.
“In fact, within the Manchester club they call Óscar Zambrano the new ‘Moisés Caicedo’ due to the similarity of both in their characteristics and in their playing style,” the South American outlet wrote in their report.
The 19-year-old defensive midfielder has made 45 appearances in all competitions with the Los Merengues, scored once and assisting another.
He has a current market value of €3 million as per Transfermarkt and these are the sorts of deals United should try and improve upon. They were the masters of such deals back when Sir Alex Ferguson was in charge.
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