Manchester United moved into sixth place in the Premier League with victory over Newcastle, but Wayne Rooney is concerned about Ruben Amorim’s side ahead of the January transfer window
Wayne Rooney has admitted he is “worried” about Manchester United despite their narrow win over Newcastle on Boxing Day. Despite a depleted United side winning 1-0 at Old Trafford, Rooney has called on the club to sign players in the January transfer window or risk falling out of the Premier League table.
United manager Ruben Amorim will be without Bruno Fernandes, Harry Maguire and Matthijs de Ligt, with Mason Mount also out injured. Meanwhile, Brian Mbeumo, Amad Diallo and Nouseir Mazrawi are absent due to the African Cup of Nations.
Amorim switched to a back four and Patrick Dorg was credited with scoring his first goal for the club. The United manager also removed academy graduates Jack Fletcher and Tyler Fredrickson from the substitutes bench, which also included fellow youngsters Tyler Fletcher, Shay Lacey and Bendito Mantat.
United legend Rooney was delighted to have been given the chance to impress his academy players after his former club persevered to pick up three points and move into sixth place in the Premier League, but he couldn’t hide his general feelings. “To be honest, I was worried when I saw the performance,” Rooney said on Match of the Day.
read more: Transfer News LIVE: Liverpool lose against Semenyo, Manchester United’s new target Chelsea busyread more: Antoine Semenyo sets new transfer deadline for Man City, Arsenal take note
“The manager changed the formation and went with a back four, which a lot of people wanted. I know they didn’t concede, but they didn’t look too comfortable and Newcastle put pressure on them, especially in the second half.”
“And when you look at the team and the bench and what they have, they really need players to help them challenge and get into the top four.
“It’s great for young players to be on the bench and get that opportunity, but it has to be at the right time. It’s not sustainable at all. They need players. They’ve obviously lost some important players and Bruno is a big loss.”
“Against Newcastle they had 33 per cent of possession, and I know that when fans go to Old Trafford they want to see their team have the ball, they want to see their team having fun, crossing into the box, scoring shots. It was a poor performance, but they found a way to win.”
United are believed to be targeting a midfielder in the January transfer window, with targets including Everton’s James Garner and Atletico Madrid’s Conor Gallagher. The club previously spent £200m to strengthen their attacking squad in the summer transfer window, with the club considering signings Adam Wharton from Crystal Palace and Carlos Baleva from Brighton.
Amorim had already ruled out panic buying in January after losing captain Fernandes to injury. “What we can’t do is go into January and try to do everything in a hurry and make mistakes and then ‘here we go again’ with a lot of mistakes,” Amorim said last week.
“I’m not going to get together (with club leaders) Jason (Wilcox) and Omar (Berada) and say, ‘We need a lot of players,’ because we have a plan.
“If we have to suffer, the club comes first. Of course we are in a period where we need points, but we need to find a solution and we will continue with our plan. You will feel at this moment that we will suffer, but we will see. We have to deal with it.”
Join our new MAN UTD WhatsApp community and receive your daily Manchester United content from Mirror Football. Community members also receive special offers, promotions, and advertisements from us and our partners. If you don’t like our community, you can check it out whenever you like. If you are interested, please read our privacy notice.
Sky Sports Premier League and EFL package discounts
£49
£35
sky
Get the deal here
Sky has reduced the price of its Essential TV and Sky Sports bundle ahead of the 2025/26 season, saving members £336 on their bill and offering more than 1,400 live matches from Premier League, EFL and more.
Sky will broadcast at least 215 live Premier League matches next season, with an increase of up to 100 more.
