After their worst season in 51 years last term, the only way is up for Manchester United. Complete with a new £200 million (€230 million) strike force, coach Ruben Amorim has the backing of fans to bring about lasting change. Now he must deliver.
From the start, Amorim has always said, given the choice, he would not have taken on the monumental task of awakening English football's most successful club from its slumber when he did, mid-season.
The Portuguese coach insisted he was given a "now or never" ultimatum before succeeding Erik ten Hag last November, taking an underperforming side to plentiful lows – worst finish, most defeats, fewest points and fewest goals in their Premier League history.
Amorim asked supporters to judge him after he had a full pre-season to instil his ideas properly. Three new forwards gives him greater tools to succeed.
Such spending comes as a surprise. New co-owner Jim Ratcliffe insisted only in March that the club were so low on cash when his company Ineos bought a minority stake in late 2023 they faced going "bust by Christmas".
RB Leipzig striker Benjamin Sesko is expected to be confirmed as a United player this weekend and could be flanked for next week's season opener against Arsenal by exciting forwards Matheus Cunha and Bryan Mbeumo, who both have something United attackers of late have lacked – Premier League goalscoring pedigree.
As United slumped to an unfathomable 15th last term, the concession of 54 goals was their joint-third worst defensive record in Premier League history.
It was their inability to score that proved more damaging, however. They mustered a record-low 44 league strikes, five fewer than in any Premier League season.
"The hardest part of last season was to go to
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