Manchester United were in need of midfield reinforcements last summer, as they will be this time around as well, but as usual, the club left it late to resolve it and then had to settle for what they could do. What they ended up with was a loan deal for Fiorentina’s Sofyan Amrabat, worth 10 million euros, with an option to make the deal permanent for 25 million euros. Amrabat caught the attention of the Premier League clubs and fans with his great performances for Morocco in the 2022 World Cup, but United’s decision to get him to the club in the summer of 2023 seemed to be based off of just those seven matches in Qatar.
Amrabat’s performances at Fiorentina were never that great and his season at Manchester United summed up their transfer dealings in recent years quite well. United got themselves a player on a loan from a weaker side, where he rarely deserved such great reviews as during the World Cup, which is a completely different universe to club football. His performances in England were often leaving people wondering why United pushed so hard for him throughout the summer and what was it that made Amrabat so special in the first place.
Amrabat made 30 total appearances for Manchester United in his season at the club, but accumulated only 1,545 minutes on the pitch. This meant the Moroccan midfielder ultimately played 17,2 full 90-minute matches, showing just how much he was used as a substitute or that he often did not last the full match.
As with Victor Lindelöf, Amrabat was another player who had to be utilised at left-back throughout the season, filling in as the squad lacked options in that position. But it is his often unimpressive performances in central midfield which made United fans wonder why the club wanted him so much.
Amrabat was not impressive in any regard, particularly not if you further inspect the underlying metrics. His qualities on the ball were quite limited. He is not the player that will give the team any great performances in that regard – he is not going to carry the ball forward nor is his passing that amazing that it can cut through the opposition. His defensive output often felt hasty, although the Moroccan did do his best being amongst the best blockers in Europe and among the top 20 per cent of tacklers in central midfield.
His season at Man United showed the difference between the necessary levels in Premier League and Serie A, as well as the difference in expectations between the Red Devils and Fiorentina. While he was the breakout player in Serie A at the beginning of the 2022-23 season, and while he did okay post-World Cup to remain one of the key Fiorentina players, at Man United he was at all times easily dispensable and replacable. That is not to denigrate Amrabat’s footballing qualities, it is just the reality of United once again looking at wrong places for their reinforcements.
His final performance against Manchester City in the FA Cup final was the complete opposite to the most part of the campaign, and it was so good that many Man United fans wondered should the club actually buy him from Fiorentina. But such flashes are not what should be enough for the club of this magnitude.
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