“He came from bench against Arsenal and did perfectly well, I’m going to hand him his first start in Premier League against Southampton”: Ruben Amorim bows to fan pressure, ready to start ONE second-choice player against Southampton after impressive display against Arsenal
Ruben Amorim believes Toby Collyer is an option to start for Manchester United against Southampton after his impressive cameo from the bench against Arsenal last weekend.
The 21-year-old shone as a substitute after being selected ahead of both Casemiro and Christian Eriksen, with his energy and enterprise a key reason why United held on to take the match to a penalty shootout.
Manchester World revealed earlier this week United had considered allowing Collyer to leave the club on loan this month but have since decided he is best suited to continuing his development with the first-team squad under Amorim.
Asked about whether Altay Bayindir and Toby Collyer could feature against Southampton, the United head coach told reporters at his pre-match press conference. “A lot of players I had to think this week, Toby is training really well, he has a lot of pace, he likes to learn so it’s one more option for tomorrow,” he said.
United showed huge character to hold on with 10 men against Arsenal at the weekend, in what was a heroic performance for the ages. It will be a different test when they host the Premier League’s bottom side on Thursday night and Amorim believes he will learn more from his side tomorrow than he did across the previous two matches.
He added: “ I think this next game will teach me more from my players than the last two, so I’m focused to see what kind of game we will play tomorrow. We will know tomorrow. There is no expectation for us in the last two games, nobody expect but now they are expecting us to win and play well. So we will learn more.”
Man United’s latest transfer news
Manchester United have been linked with a move to sign Jonathan David on a free transfer this summer, reports have stated – with the Red Devils reportedly now ‘seriously considering’ a move for the Canadian international, with his contract set to expire in the summer.
The New York-born star has 82 goals in 163 Ligue 1 games for Lille, which is slightly more than a goal per game in Les Dogues colours, and that tally will be enough to tempt bigger sides into making a move for his services.
The attacker will be on various radars in 2025.
The report from TuttoJuve states that David represents a ‘golden opportunity’ for United, with his Lille contract set to expire at the end of the season.
Ruben Amorim’s side are ‘seriously considering’ a move for the Lille star, who has been one of the most consistent attackers in Ligue 1 over the past half decade, though it appears that there could be a frantic race for his services, with Juventus also being touted for a move for his services.
United have been admirers, but with no transfer fee to pay should he run his contract in France down, it’s seen plenty of other clubs take a keen interest in his signature and that could cause problems for the Red Devils.
Rasmus Hojlund and Joshua Zirkzee have failed to impress in the Premier League for the Red Devils this season, with the club sitting in the bottom half of the table by a five-point margin. United have never finished lower than eighth in the top-flight, and run a real risk of doing so if they don’t sort their goalscoring woes out in the coming weeks – and David would be a huge help going into next season with the attacker also able to play across the front three of their front line.
Marcus Rashford and Antony have been touted with the exit door, having both suffered greatly over the past 18 months, and if they are to depart, then a deal for David could be the perfect tonic to add numbers in terms of squad depth and quality.
David’s 15-goal haul in the French top-flight back in 2020/21 saw them trump Paris Saint-Germain for the title, which remains the only time since 2016 that PSG haven’t won the league – but if the star, who has been labelled ‘one of the best strikers in the world’ does depart for pastures new, Lille will find it even more hard-pressed to challenge the capital outfit for silverware.
