RON A MISSION!

Ruben's going all scout to land home-grown Cristiano

- HARRY PRATT

RUBEN AMORIM wants United to Manchester build a scouting team in Portugal to rival the one that landed the Red Devils Cristiano Ronaldo.

The new United boss reckons the club need to reboot and relaunch their network in his home country amid growing fears that they are missing out on the best young players over there.

Ronaldo was snapped up from Sporting back in 2003 as a teenager and under Sir Alex Ferguson became a goalscoring legend at Old Trafford before heading off to Real Madrid and beyond.

His fellow countryman and Sporting winger Nani later joined Ronaldo in Manchester and enjoyed a relatively successful spell in the UK.

However, since then the only Portuguese stars to make any serious impression at United are current pair Bruno Fernandes and Diogo Dalot, who were signed in 2020 and 2018 respectively.

The likes of Bernardo Silva and Ruben Dias, though, both ended up at rivals Manchester City and many others from that region have slipped through the United net.