Ruben Amorim is fighting a losing battle! Man Utd have no chance of salvaging nightmare season after baffling January transfer window

Let's start with the positives. Dorgu could actually prove to be a very shrewd acquisition at just £25 million ($31m), with United having won the race for his signature ahead of a host of top clubs, including Chelsea, Liverpool and Barcelona. The Denmark international is an attack-minded full-back capable of playing on either flank, and he's also versatile enough to step into midfield if required. Dorgu wasn't the blockbuster signing supporters wanted, but he could be an important one for Amorim in the long term.

United also stole another promising academy graduate from Arsenal in the form of Ayden Heaven, who followed in the footsteps of Chido Obi Martin by moving to Old Trafford after rejecting a new contract with the Gunners. The 18-year-old defender is another player possessing considerable potential, though he is not expected to start competing for regular first-team minutes right from the off.

On the one hand, it's encouraging that INEOS are building for the future. But on the other, United really should have been putting most of their efforts into bolstering their frontline. A lack of goals is the main problem facing Amorim in the short term, and he will be fighting a losing battle over the next five months because the club neglected to address it.

United's lack of cutting edge was patently clear once again on Sunday as they suffered an embarrassing 2-0 loss to Crystal Palace at Old Trafford. That was the Red Devils' seventh home loss of 2024-25, meaning they've already equalled their worst-ever showing across an entire Premier League season, set in the ill-fated 2013-14 campaign that saw David Moyes axed after just nine months in the hot seat as Sir Alex Ferguson's successor.

Amorim raised more than a few eyebrows when he started talismanic midfielder Kobbie Mainoo upfront, and the experiment completely backfired. But at this point, you can't blame the former Sporting CP boss for trying something different.

Rasmus Hojlund and Joshua Zirkzee were both named on the bench, the £108m ($133m) centre-forward pairing that has managed just five league goals between them so far this term, one fewer than Palace match-winner Jean-Philippe Mateta has recorded in his last six appearances. Amorim threw Hojlund and Zirkzee on in the final 20 minutes to try and save the game, but neither man did anything to prove their initial omission was a mistake.

Zirkzee was too slow and careless on the ball while Hojlund's first touch consistently let him down, a sight the United faithful have become all too accustomed to in recent months. Hojlund has now gone 13 games across all competitions without scoring, and Zirkzee has one goal to his name from his last 16 appearances; that's simply not good enough.

It's no wonder that Amorim is getting so desperate. Only four teams have scored fewer Premier League goals than United, and three of them currently sit in the relegation zone.

To make matters even worse, United's overall numbers in attack have been reduced. Marcus Rashford, who has frequently played as a No.9 to varying degrees of success since graduating from the academy back in 2015, has been loaned to Aston Villa until the end of the season, while £85m ($105m) flop Antony is beginning a six-month spell at Real Betis in La Liga.

Let the record first show that these are not great losses for United. Rashford has been in physical and mental decline for the best part of two years, and after expressing his desire to seek a "new challenge" away from Old Trafford, Amorim was absolutely right to exile the 27-year-old from his line up.

Antony's general attitude has been better than Rashford's, but that doesn't make up for his awful standard of performance since joining the club from Ajax in 2022. The Brazilian has only scored five goals in 62 Premier League appearances for United, and makes defender's lives far too easy with his predictable dribbling style and alarming lack of pace.

But for all their respective faults, it made no sense for United to get rid of Rashford and Antony without lining up replacements. Arranging loans instead of permanent deals to bolster the bank balance was also counter-productive, too, because there is a good chance they could both return to Old Trafford in the summer with their market value lower than ever before.

As always, United have been linked with a plethora of attackers across the globe, from Paris Saint-Germain's Randal Kolo Muani to Napoli's Victor Osimhen. But very few of their reported transfer dealings have any substance.

It would appear that the club only properly explored January moves for two strikers: Chelsea's Christopher Nkunku and Bayern Munich's Mathys Tel. According to Sky Sports, United held talks with Nkunku's representatives over a loan deal, but Chelsea were only willing to consider a permanent transfer in the region of £70m ($86m). In the case of Tel, the Red Devils went so far as to launch a formal loan bid, only to be knocked back because Bayern wanted a bigger fee and an obligation to buy included in the deal. United didn't seem fully committed to signing either player, which is just plain bizarre.

Nkunku has been playing a bit-part role at Chelsea, but that's mainly due to the fact he's not an ideal fit for Enzo Maresca's system. At Old Trafford, things might have been different for the Frenchman, who is a match-winner when firing on all cylinders, as he showed consistently during his time at RB Leipzig.

Tel would have been more of a gamble than Nkunku given he's still only 19 and has yet to truly prove he can mix it at the highest level, but what did United have to lose? At worst, he could have been an extra option for Amorim, and at best, he might have developed into the lethal central striker the Red Devils have been craving for so long.

Of course, Ratcliffe and INEOS will insist that United's quiet winter transfer window was a necessity, in order for the club to comply with the Premier League's Profit and Sustainability Rules. Ratcliffe has been ruthlessly cutting costs across all levels at Old Trafford since purchasing a minority stake from the Glazer family, most notably inviting the wrath of fans by raising ticket prices.

Britain's richest man has also gone against the club's traditions by making academy products available for transfer in a bid to generate 'pure profit'. That includes Mainoo and Alejandro Garnacho, both of whom were targeted by Chelsea in the latest transfer window.

The question is, why on earth would United spark talk of selling that prized duo, when there are so many other players in the current squad they could have pushed out permanently instead? Casemiro, Hojlund, Christian Eriksen and Diogo Dalot should all have been on the chopping block along with Rashford and Antony, while it would have been prudent to have at least looked into the potential sale of injury-plagued pair Mason Mount and Luke Shaw.

United's squad is still full of deadwood because of INEOS' bizarre approach, and Amorim is the man who will suffer most because of that.

United are 11 points clear of the relegation zone, and probably won't be drawn into a dogfight because Leicester, Ipswich and Southampton all have a doomed aura about them. But barring a miraculous recovery, the Red Devils won't get near last season's eighth-place Premier League finish, which was the worst in the club's history.

Amorim would be wise to prioritise the Europa League where possible as that remains the only route left to Champions League qualification. On paper, glory in that competition seems realistic, too, with early Champions League drop-outs no longer allowed entry into the last-16 of the Europa League under the rules of UEFA's new format.

But Tottenham, Athletic Club, Eintracht Frankfurt and Lazio would all be confident about beating this United team, and rightly so. The prospect of facing Amorim's rotten Red Devils will also illicit no fear from likes of Ajax, Porto, Real Sociedad and Roma if they get through the knockout play-offs.

United don't have the strength in depth to retain their FA Cup crown either, and so it's almost a guarantee that they won't be playing European football of any kind next season. There's no way to sugar-coat it: INEOS' have ruined the club's 2024-25 campaign.

Amorim must be seriously regretting answering United's call after Ten Hag's dismissal, and he doesn't deserve to be in this position. This really is an impossible job for the ex-Sporting boss now, and all of the blame must be laid at Ratcliffe's door.