"It's not their game" – Rio Ferdinand names 4 Manchester United stars who are not suited to play under Ruben Amorim

Manchester United great Rio Ferdinand has stated that Joshua Zirkzee, Matthijs de Ligt, Harry Maguire, and Rasmus Hojlund are all ill-suited to play under head coach Ruben Amorim.

Earlier on Wednesday (February 26), the Red Devils came back from a goal behind to defeat Ipswich Town 3-2. Their home league triumph with 10 men helped them leapfrog Everton into 14th place in the domestic table.

After the end of the Premier League contest at Old Trafford, Ferdinand asserted that Amorim has yet to live up to the expectations Manchester United fans had last November. He said on TNT Sports (h/t Metro):

"I think if we're being brutally honest, there hasn't been the progress that we all anticipated. Where he came from, how successful he had been and the silverware he brought to Sporting, the anticipation of him coming was like, 'Wow! What an opportunity we've got now with this young manager', and it hasn't transferred here."

Ferdinand, who represented the Red Devils 455 times as a player, added:

"I watched Sporting a few times, in Europe especially. They were an athletic, dynamic team. That was one of the staples of that team, the hallmarks of that good team that was winning things. This team aren't a mobile, dynamic team. If you look through the heartbeat of this team, they have other qualities but having the ability to overrun teams physically – they don't have that capacity."

Queried if Zirkzee is suited to Amorim's preferred style of play, he replied:

"No... De Ligt, Maguire, Hojlund, it's not their game. So, I think he needs to find those type of players with the capabilities of carrying out not only tactically what he wants, but the physicality is equally important."

Amorim, whose current contract will expire in June 2027, has guided the Red Devils to just five wins and eight losses in 16 league matches so far.

Manchester United aiming to sign 22-year-old

According to reliable journalist Sacha Tavolieri, Manchester United have opened talks with RB Leipzig star Castello Lukeba's camp. They have been scouting the left-footed centre-back for multiple months since last year.

Meanwhile, Leipzig have clarified that they will only consider a sale if Lukeba's £75 million exit clause is triggered. They are aware that both Manchester United and Real Madrid are hoping to sign a defender this summer.

Lukeba, 22, has scored one goal in 62 overall matches for Leipzig so far.