Manchester United Face £6m Dilemma Over Harry Amass

Manchester United are flirting with the same mistake twice – and they know exactly how painful it can be.

Two summers ago, Alvaro Carreras left Old Trafford for Benfica for around £5.2 million. A tidy fee for a young left-back, or so it seemed. Last summer, Real Madrid paid close to £42m to prise him away from Portugal. United watched that deal unfold like a cautionary tale.

Now Harry Amass is walking down a similar path.

The 19-year-old left-back, who broke into the first team under Ruben Amorim and made seven senior appearances before a Championship loan last season, is being touted for sale at around £6m. Championship clubs are circling, and there is Premier League interest too. It’s small money in today’s market, especially for a homegrown defender in a position United are actively trying to strengthen.

All this while Luke Shaw, 31 and entering the final year of his contract, stands as the only proven senior left-back on the books.

Supporters have reacted exactly as you’d expect. Many are baffled at the idea of cashing in on a teenager with first-team minutes in an area of obvious need. Others see Carreras’ trajectory and fear a repeat – a young full-back leaving for “loose change” only to explode in value elsewhere.

If United do pull the trigger on Amass at that price, they had better be right. Or very, very sure.

Carrick’s kids and a squad in transition

Michael Carrick’s first full season in charge begins with a squad that looks restless, raw and, in places, wide open.

United are effectively putting most of their Under-21s on the market for loans. The aim is clear: real minutes, real pressure, real stadiums. After pre-season run-outs against Rosenborg and Wrexham, the likes of Shea Lacey and Ethan Williams have put themselves in the shop window.

But four youngsters are off-limits. Lacey, twins Jack and Tyler Fletcher, and JJ Gabriel are being treated as non-negotiables in the club’s long-term plan.

Another name trying to muscle his way into that conversation is Jaydan Kamason. The 19-year-old full-back, the first player to sign a scholarship after emerging from United’s Emerging Talent Programme, has endured two lengthy injuries but is now forcing his way back into the picture.

He featured in the opening pre-season games against Wrexham and Rosenborg, then lit up Norway with two sharp assists after replacing Harry Maguire at half-time. It was the kind of performance that changes conversations in coaches’ offices.

Kamason knows the stakes. He wants Carrick’s trust, but accepts that loans may be part of the climb.

“Hopefully I can,” he said when asked about a first-team breakthrough. “I’m always trying to aspire to get to that level. If I need a few loans or whatever, we’ll have to see. But I’m trying to get to that top level and that’s Man United. You just have to be ambitious.”

Ambition is everywhere at Carrington. Opportunity, less so. That tension will define United’s summer.

Pre-season, injuries and a patchwork XI

The warm-up schedule is set and unforgiving. Atletico Madrid in Stockholm on August 1. PSG in Gothenburg a week later. Leeds and Milan to follow. Every game is on MUTV; every minute is another data point for Carrick.

Joshua Zirkzee, though, may not be part of the long-term picture. Juventus are leading the race to take the striker on loan with a £30m option to buy, and the Italian club’s pursuit of him has already reshaped their own plans. Sky Sports report that Juve are now unlikely to sign Joshua Zirkzee because they have struck a deal with PSG to bring in Randal Kolo Muani on loan with a conditional obligation to buy. If that deal becomes permanent, Kolo Muani will sign a five-year contract.

United, meanwhile, have looked at Dusan Vlahovic as an option up front. The former Juventus forward is a free agent after his contract in Turin expired, and the i Paper reports that United are considering him as the experienced striker they want if Zirkzee does head to Italy.

In attack, they are also waiting on Benjamin Sesko. The Slovenia international missed the first two friendlies against Wrexham and Rosenborg with a shin problem but has started outdoor training. Carrington sources insist his rehab is on schedule; he was never meant to feature in the early games. There is a chance he plays against Atletico in Stockholm, and he is expected to start against PSG on August 8.

At the back, there is better news. Lisandro Martinez, who limped out of the World Cup final as Argentina lost 1-0 to Spain after extra-time, has avoided serious damage. Tests showed a muscle strain rather than something more sinister, and the defender – who made the World Cup team of the tournament – should be fit for the Premier League opener away to newly-promoted Hull on August 22.

Even so, Carrick’s first XI of the campaign may look makeshift. With Martinez working back to full sharpness and Matthijs de Ligt not due to return until the autumn, the centre-back pairing of Harry Maguire and Willy Kambwala Heaven is likely to continue. Kobbie Mainoo is nursing a back injury in midfield. Sesko is still building up.

That opens the door for a different look: Mason Mount alongside new signing Youri Tielemans in midfield; Bryan Mbeumo through the middle; Amad Diallo from the right; Matheus Cunha cutting in from the left. Not the fantasy line-up some fans have sketched out for Carrick’s new era, but perhaps a realistic one for August.

Falcao’s second act and Neville’s nod to Chelsea

Away from Old Trafford, one of United’s most frustrating signings of the last decade is about to be handed a very different responsibility.

Radamel Falcao, whose expensive and underwhelming loan spells at Manchester United and Chelsea between 2014 and 2016 became a Premier League cautionary tale, is being lined up as Colombia’s assistant manager. The country’s all-time top scorer, with 36 goals in 104 caps, has just left Millonarios after a two-year stint and is now a free agent.

The Colombian FA wants him as No.2 to head coach Nestor Lorenzo after Luis Amaranto Perea departed to take over Independiente Medellin. A source close to Lorenzo told El Tiempo that the Argentine coach is open to the idea if Falcao decides to retire, and stressed that the initiative came from the federation’s hierarchy, not from Lorenzo himself.

If it happens, it will be a very different stage for a striker who once terrorised defences for Porto, Atletico Madrid and Monaco.

Back in England, another ex-United forward is on the move. Danny Welbeck, 35, has agreed a two-year deal with Chelsea after leaving Brighton. The London club’s recruitment of Welbeck and Jordan Henderson has drawn praise from Gary Neville, who believes they address a glaring issue.

“If you watched Chelsea for the last three, four or five years you’d say there’s inexperience right throughout the football club,” Neville told Sky Sports. He hailed the pair as a “spine” of senior professionals who can act as “guardians of good behaviour, responsibility and discipline” and insisted their impact will be as significant off the pitch as on it.

“They’re still good players who can contribute 25-35 games a season,” Neville said, but their real job will be to drag standards up for a young squad he felt lacked leadership.

Kone talks and security shadows

In midfield, United are pushing on another front. Reports in Italy and France suggest Manu Kone has agreed personal terms with the club. The Roma midfielder, a World Cup winner with France, is said to be keen on joining Carrick’s project. United are in discussions with Roma and preparing a bid of around £42.7m.

Off the pitch, Lisandro Martinez has already felt the weight of being a high-profile figure in a highly charged football culture. After Argentina’s World Cup semi-final win over England, he and Liverpool’s Alexis Mac Allister hired private security for their homes in the north-west. Emotions were running hot after England’s 2-1 defeat, and a banner Martinez held during the celebrations – declaring “The Falklands are Argentina’s” – only sharpened the spotlight.

Security teams patrolled their properties for two days. There were no incidents, and United were not involved in arranging the protection. Still, it was a stark reminder of how quickly football can spill over into politics and personal lives.

United’s summer, then, is a tangle of promise and risk: academy talent on the brink, a potential cut-price sale that could haunt them for years, big decisions at centre-forward, and a manager trying to knit it all together before Hull away.

If they really are about to cash in on Harry Amass for £6m, they had better hope this time the story ends in Manchester – not, again, with another young left-back celebrating a blockbuster move somewhere else in Europe.