Manchester United fans can expect to see as many as six new players signed in 2025 if Micah Richards' forecast is correct.

The Red Devils are currently languishing in the bottom half of the Premier League table following a lacklustre start to the 2024/25 campaign. Erik ten Hag found himself dismissed by INEOS in late October after going 3-2-4 in the league, subsequently replaced by new boy Ruben Amorim – but the Portuguese mastermind hasn't managed to have much of a long-lasting impact on the team as of yet.

And according to Richards, United may look to splash the cash once again in order to strengthen their squad to suit Amorim's style of play in 2025. The former Manchester City defender was asked by Gary Lineker back in November if United have the players they need to compete in the league during an instalment of The Rest Is Football.

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Following Amorim's managerial debut against Ipswich – which ended in a 1-1 draw – Richards responded to Lineker's question with: "Not in the way that Amorim wants to play. So he wants to play high-energy, he likes his midfield two to be really aggressive. It looked good didn't for the first 10 minutes? They looked alive, they looked sharp. All the things that you thought. I was getting excited and then it just went flat."

Crucially, though, in terms of when new faces could come in, Richards admitted: "I don't think he's going to get the players that he wants in January, but I think in the summer we're going to see five or six players come in. I was a little bit disappointed in the showing, and that's not the manager. Obviously the manager needs time to implement his style, but it was almost like a fizzy drink – I expected so much, they started so well, then it just fizzled out a little bit."

Richards added that Amorim will need time to mould his inherited squad into a group of players who unify the way he expects them to, before Alan Shearer pointed out the impact that fresh faces could have on the squad. The former Newcastle United striker explained: "For a start, he's got an ageing midfield hasn't he? He played Casemiro and [Christian] Eriksen.

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"It would be nigh-on impossible for those two to do what he wants in terms of the press and the high energy, and the sprints, and the running and everything else."

Their fears have rung true since Amorim's first couple of weeks in the job, as United have already experienced defeats to Nottingham Forest, Arsenal, Tottenham and Bournemouth under the Portuguese.

Ten Hag welcomed a whole host of new faces to Old Trafford over the summer, including Leny Yoro from Lille, Joshua Zirkzee from Bologna, Manuel Ugarte from PSG, and Matthijs de Ligt and Noussair Mazraoui from Bayern Munich – and the club spent around £200m in doing so.

Ultimately, it appears as though the side are still lacking in a number of key areas, including an out-and-out striker and depth in the centre of the park. Sporting CP hitman Viktor Gyokeres has been linked although reuniting him with Amorim would prove costly, especially in January.