Sofyan Amrabat opens up on "very difficult" summer and wanting to stay at Manchester United

Sofyan Amrabat is confident Manchester United have the potential to achieve "something big" this season and if he can play his part in a successful campaign he hopes it will help turn his stay at Old Trafford into a permanent one.

The 27-year-old turned down numerous offers from other clubs during the summer transfer window after setting his heart on a reunion with Erik ten Hag, but he had to wait until deadline day for the deal to go through and in the end, it was only a loan move.

United paid Fiorentina £8.5m to sign Amrabat on a season-long loan, with the option to make the move permanent for £21.4m, but there is no guarantee that clause will be activated.

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The Morrocan midfielder, who played under Ten Hag at FC Utrecht between 2015 and 2017, said the summer was "very difficult" as he waited for United to make their move, but refused to see the unexpected nature of the deal as being an audition to extend his stay at the club beyond one season.

"I don’t think about that. For me, today, I am a Manchester United player," said Amrabat. "The only thing I can do is give everything that I have, to do my best to try to help the team. I hope we have a fantastic season, I hope we can win something, and then later we will see what will happen.

"Of course, I would love to stay here, but that’s not important for me, I don’t look too far in the future."

Ten Hag made Amrabat a key target early in the summer but United couldn't sell the players they wanted to raise the funds to sign him on a permanent deal from Fiorentina, where he had a year left on his contract.

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