Heavily linked with United throughout the summer window, Amrabat was only firmed up as a concrete target by the club in the final week and Erik ten Hag promptly got his man. United agreed an initial 10million loan fee – plus the option to buy – with Italian side Fiorentina and Amrabat will wear their No.4 shirt.
He was unable to make his debut against Arsenal due to a cut-off with Premier League paperwork, which needed to be completed by midday on Friday afternoon. The 27-year-old was a later addition.
Amrabat is already well-known to Ten Hag from their days together at FC Utrecht in the Eredivisie and the United manager will have an idea of how the Morocco international might best fit into his team. Here are three ways that United could line up with Amrabat in their engine room.
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Discounting injured players such as Raphael Varane, Luke Shaw and Mason Mount for the foreseeable, you would expect there to be few changes made by Ten Hag in the main competitions. Stop-gap signing Sergio Reguilon and the vibrant Rasmus Hojlund will come into the starting XI, sooner rather than later, while Christian Eriksen is a best bet to make way for Amrabat, at this moment. That would see him provide the missing link between Casemiro and newly-appointed captain Bruno Fernandes in his familiar playmaker role.
At times last season, particularly in the big games, one of the inverted forwards (usually Antony) was sacrificed to give United greater stability, protection and control. Fernandes regularly ventured onto the right flank to do a job for the team, but Ten Hag might not necessarily have to move the Portuguese this season. Should he want to find room for another midfielder – albeit to operate from the wing – Mount offers him that option, too, as and when he recovers from injury. Mount has played on the right-hand side for Chelsea and England.
