Midfielder Sofyan Amrabat joined Man Utd on deadline day but he’s failed to have the impact he would have hoped.
“It’s normal my start was a bit difficult. I don’t like to give excuses, but I didn’t have a pre-season, so that’s difficult for every player I think,” said Sofyan Amrabat last month.”I started with an injury and normally you need some time to adapt, but there was no time, the team needed me, so I had to jump in immediately and I’m a fighter, I will never say no when the manager needs me.”The Premier League is the strongest in the world, but I’m happy, every day I’m stronger and better. So I’m happy we won the game and I played quite good, but there’s a lot of things to do better and I have more to offer.”That post-match interview with Amrabat came after the win against Chelsea on December 6 and he played the entire match, starting alongside Scott McTominay and Bruno Fernandes. Erik ten Hag needed to make changes after a lifeless performance against Newcastle and Amrabat was preferred to Kobbie Mainoo, who was named on the bench.
Amrabat retained his starting place for the next match against Bournemouth but a 3-0 humbling at Old Trafford followed, which increased the heat on an already under-pressure manager.
It was a shock to see Amrabat keep his place in games against Bayern Munich and Liverpool, but he was finally dropped against West Ham before Christmas and he’s not been in a squad since.The midfielder picked up a minor injury that ruled him out of the festive clashes against Aston Villa and Nottingham Forest and reported for Africa Cup of Nations duty in January.Amrabat joined up with Morocco for the tournament currently being held in the Ivory Coast and he departed quietly, which reflects his lack of importance in the United squad.
There was a small section of the fanbase on social media that suggested Armabat would be the club’s saviour this season, one of the final pieces to the midfield jigsaw. The analytics community pointed to his promising statistics with Fiorentina in Serie A, while others based their opinions on watching Amrabat at the 2022 World Cup in Qatar.There is a clip of Amrabat powerfully sprinting back and tackling Kylian Mbappe that is repeatedly played, but having a highlight reel on YouTube has no correlation to being a quality player. It’s also no secret that international tournament form can be misleading, although there’s no denying those few weeks in Qatar put Amrabat in the shop window.It’s understood certain figures at United had reservations about signing Armabat, but a temporary deal was struck on deadline day and a €10million loan fee to Fiorentina was agreed. The deal also included the option to make the move permanent for €20m, plus a further €5m in add-ons.
It was shrewd business from Fiorentina because Amrabat was out of contract in Florence at the end of the season and the significant loan fee banked cash. Fiorentina were delighted with their side of the deal and they will be hopeful of the move becoming permanent, but it would be a mistake to extend Amrabat’s stay at Old Trafford.Although the 27-year-old is likeable and committed, he’s looked below the level required in the Premier League and signing him for €20m on the back of his performances is inadvisable. Amrabat has started in midfield six times in the league and his positional awareness has been poor, his passing often wayward and he’s been unable to provide adequate cover at the back.Nobody considered his absence at AFCON as a blow and that speaks volumes.
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