Man Utd ‘open talks’ for first signing of Ruben Amorim era which could finally solve problem position

Manchester United are interested in signing a promising South American, according to reports.

United head coach Ruben Amorim, 39, has not yet had the chance to sign players, having only joined the club in November following the departure of Erik ten Hag.

Since Sir Jim Ratcliffe’s INEOS group completed a £1.25B minority stake purchase of the club in February 2024, several big-money signings have joined the Red Devils.

During last summer’s transfer window, Leny Yoro (£52m), Manuel Ugarte (£51m), Matthijs de Ligt (£45m), Joshua Zirkzee (£36m) and Noussair Mazraoui (£15m) arrived at the club for a combined transfer fee of around £177m.

Despite the high spending, one noticeable difference in the recruitment policy was the age of the players who signed, with all of the recruits being 26 or under at the time they arrived at the club.

Signing young players may continue with reports from journalist Pedro Torres explaining how 17-year-old left-back Diego Leon “is of interest to Manchester United”.

Of course, one of the areas where United lack depth in is the left back/wing back position, with Diogo Dalot seemingly being Amorim’s preferred choice in the absence of Luke Shaw, who suffered another injury setback ahead of United’s 2-0 loss against Arsenal last week.

Leon currently plays for Paraguayan club Cerro Porteno and has featured 19 times for the side this season.

If he were to make a move to the Premier League, he would likely play a supporting role rather than being thrust into the first time, given his age.

Diego Leon could sign for Manchester United (Credit:Tigo Sports)

Journalist Cesar Luis Merlo has suggested that the clubs are in advanced talks, having already ‘agreed’ on a transfer fee of £3.1m for the player.

He was previously linked with a potential move to Arsenal.

It is still unclear how active United will be when the January transfer window opens on the first of the month.

United have been heavily linked with Sporting forward Viktor Gyokeres as Amorim could look to bolster his options both in January and this coming summer.

Despite a promising start to his tenure, United were beaten against Arsenal and Nottingham Forest last week, which left them in 13^th place in the Premier League.

Following the 3-2 defeat to Forest last Saturday, Amorim maintained the notion that his team will need time to achieve success.

"We already knew it will be a long journey,” said Amorim.

“But we want to win because this is a massive club, and you feel it.

“When you lose one game, it is really hard for everybody, and I can understand that.

“I can feel it in the stadium after the first goal.

"We understand the context, but we have to keep in the same way, doing the same things.”