Manchester United are running out of time to find £60m transfer solution amid brutal reality

Following Ruben Amorim's decision to start Manuel Ugarte and Kobbie Mainoo on the bench for the Europa League win over Rangers, opportunity knocked for Manchester United's other midfielders.

Ugarte and Mainoo have established themselves as Amorim's first-choice midfield duo in recent weeks and had started each of the last four games prior to Thursday night's Scottish invasion.

But given the strain United's fixture schedule is currently putting on the squad, the Portuguese chief was left with no choice but to make some tweaks. He admitted ahead of last weekend's defeat to Brighton & Hove Albion that it was "impossible" to go through this period without rotating.

Having given both Ugarte and Mainoo four consecutive starts, the visit of Rangers was a timely opportunity to freshen things up. Christian Eriksen secured his first start since the 2-0 defeat to Newcastle United at the end of December and Toby Collyer was rewarded for his recent cameos by making just his second start for the club.

The latter has been growing in stature in recent weeks, so much so United no longer have any plans to let him leave on loan this month. It was previously understood that he was open to a temporary switch to a Championship club in pursuit of regular minutes.

Instead, he has leapfrogged Casemiro in the pecking order. The Brazilian is still waiting to be handed his first minute(s) in 2025 after playing the role of an unused substitute for the fifth game running on Thursday evening.

The midfield enforcer, who last played when he started the defeat to Newcastle, now finds himself on his longest run without making an appearance when he has been available for selection since joining the club in August 2022. He has racked up just 350 minutes