Exclusive:
Nigel Winterburn has told Ruben Amorim that he need not worry about Arsenal swooping in for any of his star players in the January window, given the current state of affairs at Old Trafford
Nigel Winterburn says Ruben Amorim need not worry about Arsenal poaching his players in the January transfer window.
The Portuguese mastermind is the latest man to be tasked with bringing glory back to Manchester United, replacing Erik ten Hag in November following a terrible tenure in terms of Premier League success at Old Trafford. After an eighth-place finish in the 2023/24 season, United currently sit 13th in the standings of the English top flight halfway through the current campaign.
And while Amorim may look to strengthen certain positions within his Red Devils squad, the 39-year-old has been told that he shouldn’t be too concerned about rivals like Arsenal poaching any of his players. In an exclusive conversation with Mirror Football via William Hill, Arsenal icon Winterburn said: “Well, I’m not sure whether Arsenal would be looking. Well, certainly on form they wouldn’t be looking at United players at the moment.
“It’s hard to judge. I mean, Arsenal this season have struggled with injuries, and when you think we strengthen defensively, yeah, that’s where we’ve had the real main issues. Although then people will say, ‘Yeah but we lost [Martin] Odegaard’ for I think it was 12 weeks or something like that. [Bukayo] Saka is now out. So we’ve just had a big issue with injuries and my take on that is quite clear.
“You get injury issues – although I’ve never quite seen anything like this in my time playing or watching Arsenal – but I think Arsenal, they have to get on with it. But what that does is it affects your ability really to really change something from the bench, and I think that’s the crucial point. Modern football gives you enough substitutions that you can make substitutions really early if you want, and you can affect a game.
“And I think with all of the injuries, let’s state the obvious, it weakens your bench – so the options you have to bring on reduces what you’re trying to achieve over 90 minutes. And I think that’s really where Arsenal have had the issues this season. We can also look at they’ve had one or two strange decisions go against them, but we could all look at that along our clubs’ timelines and think we’ve all had things go against us.
“It just feels at the moment for Arsenal supporters that along with the injuries, and then they’ve had one or two strange decisions that on another day would not have gone against them. So as far as I’m concerned, we’re still in a strong position. Yes, we’d like to be in a stronger position but we’re still in the Carabao Cup this week, FA Cup as well.
“But I don’t think Mikel Arteta will do a lot of business in the transfer market. I think if Arsenal are going to buy, they’re going to try and buy strong, which normally looks like you’re looking at teams which maybe have been playing Champions League football. And if you do that in January then those players are not potentially able to contribute to your Champions League.
“It’s a really interesting period, I think, for all clubs, because I just wonder how much business will actually be done apart from maybe a little bit of panic buying from some of the bottom teams through to the end of January.” With Bukayo Saka injured due to a hamstring injury, it appears as though Arteta will make the most of the players already in the squad rather than panic buying a replacement.
He has said Arsenal will keep their eyes open for potential deals this month but will first be looking to utilise the players he already has at his disposal.
However, Amorim, on the other hand, is reportedly considering bringing in an out-and-out striker to give the Red Devils a competitive edge. With Marcus Rashford’s future in question in the northwest and Rasmus Hojlund not quite a finished product despite showing promise in spells, United have been linked with big-money moves for the likes of Napoli’s Victor Osimhen – who is currently enjoying a loan spell with Galatasaray – as well as PSG’s Randal Kolo Muani.
United will find out exactly where they are lacking when they face the tough test of Arsenal come Sunday (January 12) in the third round of the FA Cup, while the Gunners will have to cope without Saka once again.
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