Manchester United is interested in Goncalo Ramos, and the newest гᴜмогs ᵴɑү that a £70m deal will be approved.
Jornal de Noticias reported last month that Benfica would only sell their star scorer if his £105m release clause is met.
Recently, Football Insider reported that Manchester United are planning a summer bid to sign the Portuguese international if they fail to get Harry Kane.
According to the report, the Eagles are willing to accept a price of approximately £70 million for their greatest asset.
Ramos is the joint top goal scorer in the Portuguese league, with 17 goals in 22 games. With the Liga Nos giants, he has 25 goals in all competitions.
The teenager, who is in top form, scored the game-winning goal against Rio Ave over the weekend.
Harry Kane, the three-time Premier League Golden Boot winner, has scored 22 goals this season and would be an excellent addition to the Old Trafford squad.
Nonetheless, it should be noted that the England captain will be 30 this year. Ramos, on the other hand, will be 22 in June and is coveted by Erik ten Hag.
Disaster central midfield pair
On the field of St. James’ Park, coach Erik ten Hag let the home team play with a 4-2-3-1 formation. In particular, the central midfield pair of Man Utd is Scott McTominay and Marcel Sabitzer. However, both of these stars could not take the opportunity to score points in the eyes of the Dutch teacher, to gradually get rid of the reserve life. They played so badly, that Mr. Ten Hag had to shake his head in frustration and replace McTominay near the end of the game with midfielder Fred.
Although McTominay and Sabitzer played the role of a central midfielder, they couldn’t hold the ball, they couldn’t finish the ball, but the defensive support was worse. It feels like these two stars are not physically fit, nor mentally prepared, before entering the big battle in St. James’ Park. According to ESPN’s post-match scoring, two Man Utd midfielders only got 4 points on a 10-point scale, for a poor performance against Newcastle on April 2.
Statistics show that McTominay had only 44 touches before being substituted, while Sabitzer had only 45 touches. That number is too modest if you look at the 73 touchdown statistics of defender Luke Shaw. Without the ball, Man Utd’s two central midfielders are like “stealth” on the field. In particular, many times in this match, McTominay was turned into a joke by Newcastle’s central midfielder Bruno Guimaraes.
The numbers do not lie and it shows the fading of the two central midfielders on the Man Utd side. McTominay made just 23 passes in total during his time on the field, with an accuracy rate of a modest 87%. And Sabitzer has 28 passes, with an accuracy rate of only 82%. This situation is very difficult to accept for midfielders who act as a bridge between the defense and the upper line. That is part of the reason why Man Utd’s strikers in this match are always in a state of “hungry ball”.
Perhaps partly due to frequent grinding of his crotch on the bench, partly due to psychological s.t.r.e.s.s. in a d.r.a.m.a.t.i.c game, both McTominay and Sabitzer were “frozen” in their legs. Seeing this duo play, many Man Utd fans must feel bored and miss the central midfielder Casemiro – Christian Eriksen. During the march to St. James’ Park last weekend, the Manchester City team did not have the services of these two stars, because one was suspended, and the other was injured.
Even when midfielder Fred was introduced by coach Ten Hag to replace McTominay, Man Utd’s situation did not improve. The midfield of the “Red Devils” is almost still paralyzed, there is no resistance against Newcastle’s midfield. In an interview after the game with BT Sport, coach Ten Hag could not hide his disappointment: “I hate to ᵴɑү this, but Newcastle are better. In particular, their midfield shows a stronger desire than our players”.
The poor form of McTominay and Sabitzer (to some extent Fred) has shown a harsh reality: Man Utd’s squad is very lacking in depth. Coach Ten Hag did not have good plans in midfield, to fill the void when Casemiro and Eriksen could not play. This also explains why the “Red Devils” have quite erratic periods in the 2022/23 season.
Certainly in the upcoming summer transfer window, Man Utd leaders need to scour the transfer market, to find at least 1 more classy central midfielder!
