Ruben Amorim faces double Man United selection headache before starting the job

Ruben Amorim is already inheriting a Manchester United squad struggling partway into the 2024/25 campaign, so the last thing he will want is the absence of key players from the very start.

Earlier this week the Sporting CP boss was confirmed to be taking over at United, with his official start date set for Monday, November 11 during the upcoming international break. His first match in charge therefore will be the Premier League trip to newly-promoted Ipswich Town.

And before he has even arrived, Amorim is a spectator to an unfolding situation that might see two of his new players suspended in the coming weeks.

The first would be Lisandro Martinez. The Argentine picked up a controversial yellow card in stoppage time against Chelsea on Sunday afternoon, with VAR ruling that it was worthy only of the yellow and not an upgrade to a red card.

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This is his fourth of the league campaign, meaning if he were to pick up another he would receive an automatic one-match suspension. If this were to come in next weekend's fixture against Leicester City, then he would be ruled out of taking part in Amorim's first match in charge.

Diogo Dalot finds himself in a similarly precarious situation as he is two matches away from being suspended under the same pretences. The full-back was also booked whilst playing Chelsea - his third of the season so far.

Whilst Dalot cannot be ruled out of Amorim's first match, a yellow card in any two matches in the near future would mean Amorim is unable to call on him. That would become problematic if Luke Shaw and Tyrell Malacia remain injured, as Noussair Mazraoui - the only other natural option available - cannot physically fill in at both right and left back at once.