‘Ambling’ Luke Shaw among five Man Utd players doomed in 2026
Manchester United may need to remodel their left side, especially if Ruben Amorim is sticking around, while two midfielders must be replaced…
Much of Amorim’s first summer in charge at Old Trafford was spent trying to shift players he did not want or saw no future for. It will be a similar story next year if United are serious about a rebuild.
As Amorim marks a year since his first game, here are five players who ought not to be around in 12 months…
Luke Shaw
It has been a rough week for Shaw, who bore the brunt of Gary Neville’s frustration on Monday night.
Neville, irked by United’s lack of intensity while chasing the game against Everton, might have been venting but he wasn’t wrong. Shaw was ‘ambling’.
It is an apt description of the former England defender who seem to have become more and more one-paced since entering his 30s. His defending can be passive and though he doesn’t get the same opportunities to bomb on as part of a back three as he might as a wing-back or full-back, you would have to question if Shaw is still capable of that.
At least he is available. He has started all 12 games, compared to just 16 starts over the previous two seasons. Only once in the last four seasons has he started more than half of United’s Premier League games.
Next summer, Shaw will have turned 31 and be entering the final year of a contract that makes him joint fifth among United’s highest earners. Those numbers don’t add up when it comes to INEOSonomics. They already decided the last one was a mistake in 2023.
Casemiro
We have all held our hands up and admitted we were wrong to write off Casemiro. Some did so more forcefully, disrespectfully than others. This season, the Brazilian has once more become one of United’s most important players.
It is safe to assume, though, that there is little longevity in that status. He will be 34 in February and in the last four months of his massive contract at Old Trafford.
If INEOS were p*ssed about Shaw’s contract, Casemiro’s terms left Sir Jim Ratcliffe apoplectic. The Brazilian is the highest earner at the club, on a salary it is hard to envisage United ever offering again on Ratcliffe’s watch.
More to the point, United desperately need a top-class central midfielder, maybe two. If Casemiro is still the first-choice no.6 next season, we know something has gone terribly wrong with their recruitment.
Manuel Ugarte
Speaking of terrible recruitment…
Ugarte, unfortunately, is damned by Scott McTominay’s stunning success at Napoli. United sold the Ballon d’Or nominee and put that money towards the £50million sent PSG’s way – presumably, much to their astonishment – in an effort to replace Casemiro.
It is perhaps an unfair comparison, but hard to ignore given the trajectories of the two midfielders. McTominay has made himself one of Europe’s most wanted; Ugarte can’t get a game for a team in dire need of his supposed profile.
It takes time to adapt to the Premier League, but it’s been almost a season and a half now. This was the season he needed to step up. And Ugarte looks further away than he ever did.
Having worked with Amorim at Sporting Lisbon, it was thought that Ugarte would be one of the main beneficiaries of the manager’s appointment. But Amorim has been left stunned at the difference in player he bossed at Sporting Lisbon compared to the one who sits on his bench. “He is struggling in the moment,” said Amorim. “He needs to improve, especially in training.” That last part is damning indeed.
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Joshua Zirkzee
Alarm bells were ringing immediately after United signed Zirkzee when no one could really identify what he was. When the question was put to the man himself he admitted that he was neither a no.9 nor a no.10. “I am what I call a false striker. Not a No 9, not a No 10. I am a 9.5.”
It is bad enough when United sign players for positions that are not a priority, but signing a player in a position that does not actually exist was a new low.
So it can come as no surprise that Zirkzee has struggled to adapt. A year after his arrival, United felt it necessary to buy a whole new strikeforce, which left the Netherlands forward in no doubt over his prospects.
Injuries to Benjamin Sesko and Matheus Cunha gave Zirkzee an opportunity to lead Amorim’s line against Everton. “He did alright,” said Amorim, damning the 24-year-old with the faintest of praise. It is not an opportunity he is likely to get again any time soon, assuming Cunha is back for the trip to Palace on Sunday.
Diogo Dalot/Patrick Dorgu
All we’re prepared to commit to here is that if United are to persist with wing-backs, they need a new one for the left flank.
Neville effectively wrote off the entire left side as an attacking threat against Everton, and he wasn’t wrong. Which makes the looming AFCON all the more worrying for United since they will lose Amad Diallo and Bryan Mbeumo, the two players that make their right side so much more potent.
On the opposite side, Amorim seems to favour Dorgu but it’s a close-run thing since neither the Dane nor Dalot have been able to pin down the role as their own.
That’s maybe more understandable in Dalot’s case since he is right-sided. Even if he starts high and wide – not his natural habitat – he is only ever going to drive inside into traffic. Dalot’s versatility has come in useful for numerous managers now since Jose Mourinho signed him while telling the world the Portuguese could be United’s right-back for 10 years. Almost eight years later, he’s not that.
Dorgu, 21, is still a relative rookie having joined United from Parma less than a year ago. But in that time, in 32 appearances, he has as many red cards as assists (one) and no goals.
Beyond the numbers, it is hard to recall any contribution of note. Just a run, a cross, a shot. Anyone?
Dorgu seemed a strange signing given he was a relative rookie and the importance of wing-backs in Amorim’s system. Already, they need another.
