It will be a struggle for Manchester United for the next few weeks after losing several key players in attacking areas to injury. Ruben Amorim confirmed the Red Devils will be without Amad until the end of the season after he picked up an ankle injury in training.
They are also set to be without Kobbie Mainoo for some time, after the Englishman picked up a muscular injury, although his estimated return date is unknown, according to the Manchester Evening News.
United will no doubt hope to see him and Mason Mount back soon. The former Chelsea midfielder was initially meant to be out over the festive period but he is yet to return.
It means Bruno Fernandes will have to do a lot of heavy lifting for United in attack.
Bruno Fernandes’ season so far
Over the last five years, the man whom United have been able to turn to in a crisis has been Fernandes. The Portuguese star has pulled on that famous Red shirt 270 times, scoring 88 goals and grabbing 78 assists.
Now, in the midst of their number ten shortage, Amorim will once again be hoping his captain can stand up for the count and help the club through this difficult period on the pitch. There are options there, including the impressive Joshua Zirkzee, but Fernandes’ creative influence will be key.
This season, the 30-year-old has scored nine goals and grabbed 12 assists in 37 games. He has been the man for the big occasion several times and has scored key goals against Rangers in the Europa League and Arsenal in the FA Cup, a game which United went on to win on penalties.
Fernandes’ importance at Old Trafford is certainly reflected in his transfer value, as unlikely as it seems that United might sell him. As per Transfermarkt, he is worth £45.6m, the joint second-highest in the squad alongside Mainoo and Leny Yoro.
However, the only player valued higher than the United captain has actually struggled this season, and could well be dropped by Amorim sooner rather than later.
The Man Utd player valued higher than Fernandes
It has been a tough season in front of goal for United in 2024/25. Excluding players who are out on loan or injured for the rest of the season, Fernandes is the top goalscorer in the Premier League with five goals, Zirkzee and Alejandro Garnacho are second with three goals and Rasmus Hojlund is third with just two, per Statman Dave.
For the number nine of United, that is underwhelming, to say the least. Hojlund has been in really disappointing form this term and has seven goals and one assist in 32 games.
However, just two of those goals have been scored in 1206 Premier League minutes.
Stat
Premier League
Europa League
Carabao Cup
FA Cup
Games
20
8
2
2
Minutes
1206
416
171
73
Goals
2
5
0
0
Assists
0
1
0
0
Mins per G/A
603
69
N/A
N/A
Last season, the 22-year-old Denmark international showed “big potential”, according to Statman Dave.
He has 23 goals and three assists in 75 games for the Old Trafford club, and became the youngest player to score in six consecutive Premier League games last season, with a run of seven goals in six appearances. However, he only scored ten top-flight goals last term.
The Dane clearly has talent, but his form this season has been far from impressive. It remains to be seen how long Amorim will keep the faith in Hojlund, but the form he is in and the lack of goals United are scoring could coincide soon, and the Red Devils’ number nine might be dropped sooner rather than later.
Despite his form, the 22-year-old’s transfer value has surprisingly held up well. He is worth £49.8m, more than Fernandes, whose contributions have been much better than Hojlund’s this term. That is a big drop in the original fee United paid for Hojlund, reported to be £72m.
Whatever decision Amorim takes on Hojlund’s place in the team, it would not be hard to criticise him if he did drop the Dane for a bit.
Perhaps time out of the team and away from the spotlight would do him good, so he can find his best form in front of goal and come back firing.
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