Gary Lineker has insisted that Ruben Amorim could have deeply benefited from having one former Manchester United player among his ranks at Old Trafford.
Ruben Amorim still has the chance to end Manchester United’s lacklustre 2024-25 campaign on a high note if the Red Devils can lift the Europa League trophy.
United knocked Lyon out of the quarter-finals on Thursday evening after a thrilling 5-4 comeback win at Old Trafford in their second-leg Europa League showdown.
The Red Devils punched their ticket to the Europa League semi-finals and United will now meet La Liga club Athletic Bilbao in the last four in May.
The 2024-25 Europa League campaign offers former Sporting CP boss Amorim his last chance to lift major silverware as United manager before the season is out.
United’s hopes of securing European football and a return to the Champions League for the 2025-26 season also hinge on the success of their Europa League win.
Amorim’s fortunes in the Europa League have not translated to United’s run in the Premier League, with the Red Devils languishing in 14th place in the league table.
United hosted Wolves at Old Trafford on Sunday afternoon and Amorim’s men suffered a 1-0 Premier League defeat, only days after their win over Lyon.
Gary Lineker singles out Napoli star Scott McTominay and what he could have offered Ruben Amorim’s Man Utd system
Ruben Amorim rolled out his tactical system at Manchester United after he left Sporting CP last November and replaced Erik ten Hag in the Old Trafford dugout.
The 40-year-old United manager found success with his system at Sporting, but the immediate shift in playing style for the Red Devils has yielded mixed results.
Amorim has been urged to pivot from his system until he receives the players that he needs for it to work, but the former Sporting manager has stuck with his tactics.
Scott McTominay left Old Trafford last summer under former United manager Erik ten Hag after Serie A side Napoli signed him in a deal worth £25.7m.
The 28-year-old Scottish midfielder has become a key player under Napoli manager Antonio Conte and has found success during his first season at the Italian club.
Scott McTominay scored a brace in Napoli’s 3-0 win over Empoli last Monday before the former United star found the winner against Monza in a 1-0 victory on Saturday.
Speaking on The Rest Is Football, Gary Lineker claimed that the Napoli midfielder is the type of player that United manager Amorim would want for his system.
“Talking about players that have left Manchester United, Scott McTominay scored two more goals [against Monza] – one of them an absolute beauty – for Napoli at the beginning of the week,” he said.
“It’s remarkable how well some of the United players that were there are doing and it just jumped into my head because Scott McTominay is exactly the player that would actually work in an Amorim system. He’s what they need.”
Gary Lineker makes his feelings clear on Man Utd’s call to sell Scott McTominay to Napoli after Scotland star’s run of form
Scott McTominay came through the ranks of the United youth academy and has been a mainstay under several former Red Devils managers in the first team.
The Scotland midfielder has netted 10 times and registered four assists in 31 matches for Napoli since his move to the Diego Armando Maradona Stadium.
Lineker has suggested that United’s decision to sell McTominay in 2024 would have been influenced in part by the existing Profit and Sustainability Rules (PSR).
“I know they were half-forced to sell him because of PSR [Profit and Sustainability Rules] and he’s a local lad, which we all think is nonsensical and a ridiculous feature of this particular rule,” he added.
“But there’s him, Rashford looks like a different human being… so it suggests and all the evidence is there that it’s kind of a bit rotten at United at the minute.”
McTominay is under contract with Napoli until 2028 and Antonio Conte’s men are second in the Serie A table and are level on points with league leaders Inter Milan.
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