Ruben Amorim to hand five Man United players imminent transfer lifeline after appointment

We are in the endgame for a specific but still large group of players at Manchester United. For many, it was already at this point if not beyond.

They are less than one week away from Ruben Amorim starting as head coach. It will come during the international break, a spanner in the works for the significant tactical changes expected to follow him from Portugal, but doesn't change the outstanding reality. Places and futures are at stake, here.

This United squad is one formed mostly with Erik ten Hag in mind. The amount of signings made that he had already worked with or was linked inextricably to, is a path well trodden by now.

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The excuses will have to stop immediately. The word of ex-United players - Roy Keane, for one - is that not many of this group will actually be around in Amorim's grand plans. It will certainly take time to overhaul a squad still being put together, but the point stands.

This is Sir Jim Ratcliffe and Ineos' man. Amorim is their appointment. The transfers made and changes to the crop of players will be done with their influence and direction. For some it might be too late to turn things around fully.

Others, though, have one last opportunity. Maybe it's one they don't deserve, but it will come either way. New managers always bring a clean slate, but for how long that lasts is another matter entirely.

As soon as Amorim walks through the door the race is on to make it into his preferred XI. For some, if they don't end up in the selection picture, of if their performances don't improve, then it could be the start of the end of their stay.

Victor Lindelof, for example, should really have left over the summer. He is one who didn't have much place being part of a Ten Hag squad two years ago having struggled to assert himself at United as a top-level quality centre-back.

Alongside him, while Jonny Evans has certainly proven useful, is Amorim really going to want a 36-year-old defender in a back-three with what looks likely to be makeshift wing-backs at the start? To cover for the lack of pace he has, and elsewhere in the side, United would need to accommodate too much, just look at the eventual attacking problems that playing Thiago Silva and Jorginho put on Chelsea, the last elite side in England to play with an orthodox 3-4-3/3-4-2-1 structure.

Luke Shaw looks ideal to go on the left but if he can't stay fit then his future will be up for serious consideration as well under Amorim. Wing-backs are so important for the incumbent boss that availability is going to be enormous for Shaw's hopes of remaining a part of the team in the short and long-term.

Tyrell Malacia was signed recently enough that even his own absence should offer some leeway in this discussion. Harry Maguire, meanwhile, is fighting against Matthijs de Ligt and Leny Yoro. He, a bit like Evans, will need help from his outside centre-backs and has hardly been protected from interest in recent years.

The midfield scenario is reminiscent of the look of Ten Hag's teams for long periods of his time at United. It is either one of two extremes. Casemiro and Christian Eriksen were both linked with exits over the summer as their legs let them down, while Kobbie Mainoo, Manuel Ugarte, and the support cast will be hopeful of having their best days ahead of them.

Should Amorim look away from Casemiro and Eriksen, specifically, then it will be a long way back for them to recover and have a role in United's future. The only way for them to keep things going, really, is to hit the ground running when the new coach arrives, and to make themselves indispensable, because before long it might be out of their hands.

And then there is Antony. United have a lot of talent through Rasmus Hojlund (why can't he be the equivalent of Viktor Gyokeres without buying again for over £70million?), Alejandro Garnacho, Bruno Fernandes, Amad, and Marcus Rashford. The attack is swelling with options when players on form.

Antony sticks out as someone who never got going and was another who might have left several months ago if offers had been right. Onto his second manager since joining, and now losing one of the few who really pushed for him as a quality right-wing candidate, if he can't make it work swiftly under Amorim it could be the end.

None of this is particularly new. It was the case for most of the previous transfer window too, but now there is a change of direction, the possibility of it all making a difference is stark. For those on the outside, it is the last chance to pitch why they should be considered in Amorim's plans for the now and the tomorrow.

For Antony (especially), but also Casemiro, Eriksen, and Evans, age is becoming an issue for a forward-thinking manager. Shaw's fitness will be put to the test too as he tries to re-establish himself as a world class player. None of them have the benefit of time on their side, though, and Amorim is flying in next week.

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