Ruben Amorim Targets Noussair Mazraoui for Milan Rebuild

Ruben Amorim’s Milan rebuild is starting in a familiar place: his old dressing room.

Barely a month into the job at San Siro, the Portuguese coach has set his sights on Manchester United defender Noussair Mazraoui, a player he knows, trusts and has already publicly championed. According to reports in Italy, relayed by Metro Sport, Amorim has told the Milan hierarchy in clear terms that the Morocco international is high on his wish list.

It is not a casual preference. It is an obsession born of experience.

Amorim’s favourite

Mazraoui has quietly become one of United’s most dependable squad pieces since arriving from Bayern Munich in 2024 for £17 million. Seventy-seven appearances later, his value is obvious: he can operate across the back line, offers balance in and out of possession and fits perfectly into the kind of fluid defensive structures Amorim favours.

Transfer specialist Matteo Moretto underlined just how strongly the Milan boss feels about him. Speaking on Fabrizio Romano’s YouTube channel, he described Mazraoui as “one of Amorim’s favourites,” a player the coach rates extremely highly. At 28, under contract until 2028 with an option, Mazraoui is not a short-term patch; he is the type of cornerstone Amorim would like to build around.

For now, though, it remains an admiration from afar. Moretto was clear: there are no negotiations in place, no direct contact between Milan and United. This is still on the manager’s board, not yet on the clubs’ desks. The expectation is that the situation could develop later in the window, if Milan decide to test United’s resolve.

And that resolve will be tested. United view Mazraoui as a vital squad member, precisely because of the versatility that appeals so much to his former coach.

A coach who knows what he wants

Amorim’s push for Mazraoui is rooted in more than just tactical fit. During his spell at Old Trafford, the Portuguese repeatedly highlighted the defender’s blend of technical quality and tactical intelligence. Those weren’t throwaway compliments; they read now like the scouting notes of a manager already thinking about how he would use the player in any system he controls.

Shortly after taking the United job, Amorim was effusive. Mazraoui, he said, was “a top player” who “understands the game,” attacks well, defends well and excels in one-on-one situations. He called him “a modern player” and went further still, describing him as “the future of our team” and the kind of footballer United needed more of: someone who can control the tempo and stay completely comfortable with the ball.

Those words echo loudly now. Different club, different league, same conviction.

Targets slipping away

Mazraoui is not the only familiar face on Amorim’s radar. Milan’s new coach had also looked at Manuel Ugarte, another former Sporting CP charge he later worked with at Manchester. Ugarte was a prime target for the Rossoneri midfield until a serious injury at the World Cup shattered any prospect of a summer move.

That blow has sharpened the focus on Mazraoui. Other United players have been considered in Milan’s internal conversations, but the doors look firmly closed. The Premier League club are understood to be unwilling to listen to offers for Mason Mount or Amad, removing two more potential reunion candidates from the equation before talks even begin.

So the picture is clear: of the names linked from his Manchester past, Mazraoui is both the most attainable in theory and the most desired in Amorim’s mind. The problem lies on the other side of the table.

A fresh start, shaped by scars

All of this unfolds against the backdrop of a coach trying to reset his career.

Amorim arrives at San Siro after a bruising 14-month spell in the Premier League, a period he has already admitted forced him into some hard self-reflection. At his Milan unveiling, he spoke about learning from “mistakes” in England, stressing that he does not want to repeat the same errors that led to his Manchester exit.

He stopped short of listing them. “It’s hard to explain the mistakes because for that I would have to explain the context of the last adventure,” he said. What he did make clear is that those months have changed him. He has studied what went wrong. He intends to evolve his methods.

That context matters when you look at his transfer priorities now. This is a coach who wants fewer unknowns. He is targeting players whose personalities he understands, whose tactical profiles he has already tested under pressure. Mazraoui fits that bill perfectly.

Milan’s test of ambition

The question is whether Milan can actually pull this off.

They are dealing with a player tied down on a long contract, valued internally at United and trusted by a manager who, despite Amorim’s departure, leaned on his flexibility last season. There is no bargain to be found here, no distressed asset to rehabilitate. Any move would require a firm, expensive push.

But if Milan want to fast-track Amorim’s vision, these are the kind of battles they will have to embrace. A back line built around a coach’s ideal profile, a dressing room populated by players who already speak his footballing language – this is how projects accelerate.

For now, Mazraoui remains at Old Trafford, a key figure in a squad Amorim has left behind. In Milan, the new era is only just beginning, and the first big question of that era is already on the table: will the club give their new manager the trusted lieutenants he craves, or will his reset in Italy start with compromise?