Manchester United could get £30m boost to send Ruben Amorim warning to Premier League rivals - Manchester Evening News

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Sean McCormick is a content editor across our North East and Yorkshire football clubs. He was previously a Newcastle United reporter, a trends writer covering both the Magpies and Sunderland AFC, as well as a football content editor at the Manchester Evening News. He also writes about darts and boxing. He joined us in 2016.

If Manchester United's fortunes are going to change during Ruben Amorim's first season in charge of the club, a big indicator will be the form of Patrick Dorgu in his first full campaign.

Amorim has been wedded to his 3-4-2-1 formation that brought him great success at Sporting CP but there have been teething issues when implementing it at Old Trafford.

United chiefs have full faith in the Portuguese's methods and the thinking is that while United suffered short term pain last season - their 15th place finish was their worst ever Premier League campaign - the long term benefit of players getting to grips with Amorim's methods will be worth it in the long run.

Amorim, of course, places huge importance on wing-backs and it was telling that his first signing in the January transfer window was Dorgu.

United paid Italian side Lecce £30million to prise him from Serie A and despite United's struggles last term, there were some positive signs from the 20-year-old.

And the Dane has made a strong start to pre-season, too, scoring in the 4-1 win over Bournemouth on United's tour of the USA.

"I feel like the pre-season is helping everyone to understand Ruben's ideas even more," Dorgu told club media after that win over the Cherries.

"The more training we have, the more we will grow into his ideas and I feel like it is being seen a little bit on the pitch already. We just keep improving.

"Every game is a chance to improve and be ready for Arsenal. Every game is important and we will just take it game by game."

While pre-season is never the most reliable barometer to gauge a team's form, United have looked much better than they did last term.

The players look like they understand Amorim's ideas more clearly and the arrivals of Matheus Cunha and Bryan Mbeumo have given the whole club a lift.

Whether Dorgu succeeds or fails at United this season will reflect hugely on how Amorim is viewed, given he was his first signing and is so important to the success of his much maligned system.

The signs have been positive in the summer and Amorim will hope that continues into the Premier League later this month. If it does, with United not challenging on the European front next season, it could send a warning to their top flight rivals.