{"id":123829,"date":"2025-05-22T23:54:09","date_gmt":"2025-05-22T23:54:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/123829\/"},"modified":"2025-05-22T23:54:09","modified_gmt":"2025-05-22T23:54:09","slug":"rio-ferdinand-fear-as-manchester-united-deals-for-55m-and-30m-stars-potentially-scrapped","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/123829\/","title":{"rendered":"Rio Ferdinand fear as Manchester United deals for \u00a355m and \u00a330m stars potentially ‘scrapped’"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

There was a lot more on the line for Ruben Amorim\u2019s Manchester United on Wednesday night in Bilbao than the Europa League trophy.<\/strong><\/p>\n

A victory over Tottenham Hotspur in the Basque Country would have secured a return to the Champions League stage. <\/p>\n

It would also have done Manchester United\u2019s<\/a> already fraught finances a world of good, while making Old Trafford a far more tempting destination for some of the Red Devils\u2019 priority targets this summer.<\/p>\n

Take Viktor Gyokeres<\/a>, for instance. <\/p>\n

As football correspondent Graeme Bailey exclusively told United in Focus<\/strong>, Champions League football was integral to luring Gyokeres<\/a> to Manchester.<\/p>\n

The \u00a355 million-rated Sporting striker is on Arsenal\u2019s wishlist<\/a>, too, of course. And while Man United look set to beat Mikel Arteta to Matheus Cunha\u2019s signature<\/a>, the chance of a repeat with Sporting\u2019s 53-goal sensation now looks much slimmer now than they did before Brennan Johnson bundled the ball into Andre Onana\u2019s net.<\/p>\n

Ipswich Town\u2019s Liam Delap<\/a>, meanwhile, may now opt for Chelsea over United with the \u00a330 million Englishman keen on playing European football next term.<\/p>\n

Man United didn\u2019t just lose the final, then, they also lost a seat at Europe\u2019s top table and potentially their two leading striker targets as well. <\/p>\n

\"PhotoPhoto by Diogo Cardoso\/Getty ImagesRio Ferdinand worried about Manchester United\u2019s transfer plans after Europa League loss<\/p>\n

Rio Ferdinand, the 2008 Champions League-winning centre-half, summed it up pretty well after the final whistle brought a crushing end to Ruben Amorim\u2019s hopes of a crack-papering piece of silverware.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s been a disaster of a season which has ended on a bad note,\u201d Ferdinand sighs, speaking to TNT Sports<\/a>. \u201cBut I don\u2019t think they did enough to deserve it. I thought both teams looked scared to lose it.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou can\u2019t expect to win a trophy when you are playing a little bit reserved and conservative, you have to be brave in these moments. It\u2019s going to be a long, long summer.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n

\u201cThat recruitment list they had will have to be scrapped now because they are not going to have Champions League football. It is a completely different list to recruit from.\u201d<\/p>\n

Viktor Gyokeres could have replaced Rasmus Hojlund at Man United<\/p>\n

Rasmus Hojlund may have sealed his fate<\/a> with an anonymous display at the San Mames, even if he did come closer than anyone else in a Manchester United shirt while forcing a stunning goalline clearance from Micky van de Ven.<\/p>\n

Ironically, had Hojlund managed to guide that looping header over the line, the under-fire Dane may have actually paved the way for Gyokeres to come in and take his place. <\/p>\n

Now, Ferdinand fears, Man United may have to lower their sights and pursue a lower class of number nine as the extent of the Ineos rebuild becomes painfully clear.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen you win a trophy, what that does for your confidence is indescribable,\u201d Ferdinand adds, a regular title winner in happier times at Old Trafford. \u201cThe way it lifts you, you bounce into the summer and into pre-season.<\/p>\n

\u201cPlayers are looking to come in there because you\u2019re in the Champions League. Now, [Man United will have to look at] a new list. The players who would come, they want to play Champions League football.\u201d<\/p><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"There was a lot more on the line for Ruben Amorim\u2019s Manchester United on Wednesday night in Bilbao…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":123830,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8813],"tags":[748,393,1811,4884,2969,2465,15038,16,15,165],"class_list":{"0":"post-123829","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-manchester","8":"tag-britain","9":"tag-england","10":"tag-europa-league","11":"tag-great-britain","12":"tag-liam-delap","13":"tag-manchester","14":"tag-rio-ferdinand","15":"tag-uk","16":"tag-united-kingdom","17":"tag-viktor-gyokeres"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/114554186185784476","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/123829","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=123829"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/123829\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/123830"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=123829"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=123829"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=123829"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}