Man Utd news: Roy Keane tipped for comeback as former United star speaks about return

Manchester United face a rebuilding mission over the summer as they attempt to make up for a dismal Premier League season, but there’s still a bit to play for in Europe

Manchester United have a huge week ahead of them, with a Premier League meeting with Arsenal sandwiched in between the two legs of their Europa League round of 16 tie against Real Sociedad.

Ruben Amorim knows European success offers his team their last chance of salvaging a dismal season. Fulham ended their interest in the FA Cup. Amorim’s side are still nine points outside the Premier League’s top half, and 14 adrift of the top four, with just 11 games to go.

Some fans will already be looking ahead to next season and a transfer window which could be crucial to Amorim being able to use his preferred set-up going forward. There will be some ins and outs, with recent comments from Antony’s agent suggesting he will find himself in the latter camp.

We’ve got the latest on Antony, as well as a player linked with a return to United after some time away. Here are Mirror Football‘s latest lines from around Old Trafford.

Antony’s agent slams Amorim

Antony’s agent Junior Pedroso has hit back at suggestions from Ruben Amorim that his client is unsuited to the Premier League. The former Ajax star has impressed on loan at Real Betis despite struggling for minutes at his parent club under Amorim.

“We respect the opinion of coach Ruben Amorim, but we completely disagree with his analysis,” Pedroso told Marca. “To attribute Antony’s lack of success at Manchester United solely to the question of physicality is a very superficial argument and does not reflect reality.

“The truth is that Antony has not had enough prominence or the confidence necessary to play his best football. Of the 15 games in which Amorim managed Manchester United, he only used Antony in nine, with a total of 252 minutes played. This represents only 18.6% of the total possible minutes (1,350 minutes). How can you judge an athlete without a minimum sequence to prove his worth?”

United told to bring back Keane

Former Manchester United defender Mikael Silvestre believes the club should bring back former captain Roy Keane to work with Amorim. Keane has had the occasional foray into management, but is more regularly seen as a pundit these days.

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“I think it would be great for Roy Keane to play a role at Manchester United,” Silvestre, a former team-mate of Keane at the club, told Yaysweepstakes.com. “Because, the thing is with Roy, he always treated everybody exactly the same way. It didn’t matter if you were a new signing, an old guy, the manager, everybody. That’s how he got respect. That’s how Sir Alex got respect. If you treat everybody the same, no problem.

“Now, it’s true you have players, and as soon as you say something to them, they don’t collapse, but it affects them much more. We used to have thicker skin. I saw Joshua Zirkzee apologising on social media about missing his penalty against Fulham. So you missed a penalty – you didn’t kill anybody! There is no need for that. Plus, he had a good game, so don’t blame yourself, it happens.”

Carreras addresses return talk

Alvaro Carreras has put Manchester United return talk to the back of his mind to focus on his form with Benfica. The Spaniard left Old Trafford permanently over the summer, but the Premier League club have a £16million buy-back option for a player attracting interest from La Liga’s biggest clubs.

“The truth is that I’m overlooking it a bit,” left-sided talent Carreras told A Bola (via Sport Witness) ahead of Benfica’s Wednesday night meeting with Barcelona in the Champions League. “I’m concentrating on what I have to do because every three days I have a game.

“There’s always interest from teams, and everyone wants to grow, but I’m doing very well here (at Benfica). Manchester United have an option to buy that has been signed, but I’m very happy here.”

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