da esoccer bet： The midfielder has only played one full game for the Red Devils but he has already helped them raise their game and lifted the gloom at Old Trafford

da pinnacle： Sofyan Amrabat waited and waited for Manchester United to sign him over the summer before finally getting a loan deal done on transfer deadline day. Then the club had to wait for him to get fit after he arrived with a back injury. But when the Morocco midfielder finally made his full debut against Crystal Palace, it was worth it.

United had earmarked Amrabat as a replacement for Fred all summer and were first linked with him the day after the FA Cup final. Financial Fair Play obligations prevented them from signing him permanently and they risked losing him to Liverpool at one point.

Amrabat, however, was utterly committed to joining United, and it was clear from his post-match interview after spearheading the 3-0 win over Palace in the Carabao Cup that making his debut for the Red Devils was one of the biggest moments of his life. He acknowledged that he had joined United in a difficult period but he portrayed a willingness to do whatever it took to get them out of trouble and back on the road to success.

"Since I was a child I worked for this, my whole career, my whole life. It's Tuesday and the whole stadium is full, fantastic," Amrabat told . "I told the manager you play where you need me, even like a goalkeeper, wherever I can help the team. It was not the most easy time. It's clear United's a huge club, it's clear you need to win, the manager told me the pressure is high, every day you need to win so we will push a lot."

More importantly, he lifted United's performance levels across the pitch and gave a glimpse of the type of football they are capable of playing when they have an all-action midfielder in the team, someone with the legs to cover serious ground and also the technical ability to bring the ball out from defence and into attack.

United's midfield was badly exposed at the start of the season, but there is real hope that Amrabat can help continue their upturn in form and lead them to another victory against Palace on Saturday in the Premier League.

(C)Getty ImagesCovering the most ground at the World Cup

United had an alarming lack of energy in their opening two games of the season as they were overwhelmed in midfield by Wolves and then Tottenham. Former United captain Roy Keane gave a typically cutting critique of their performance in the 2-0 defeat at Spurs, taking aim at Casemiro, Bruno Fernandes and Mason Mount.

"You look at the six players high up the pitch, when you're out of possession, they're giving you absolutely nothing," Keane said on . "When I look at Mount and Fernandes, out of possession they look like schoolboys. They haven't got the physicality to get the ball back."

Amrabat, fortunately, can help United cover far more ground than they have been able to so far. He ran more than any other player at the 2022 World Cup, covering 81.4 kilometres in seven games in Qatar to help Morocco reach the semi-finals for the first time ever.

In those seven matches, he made a combined 22 tackles and interceptions, the fifth-highest in the tournament. He was also responsible for one of the standout moments of the competition, when he made a lung-bursting run to chase down Kylian Mbappe and make a tremendous slide tackle on the France superstar.

His performance in Qatar not only captivated Morocco fans. He was widely regarded as the best holding midfielder in the tournament, and after his side's elimination, French president Emmanuel Macron went into the dressing room to congratulate him on his displays.

AdvertisementGetty Images'He plays until he dies'

Amrabat's former coach at Hellas Verona, Ivan Juric, gave an insight into the midfielder's appetite for playing which will further enthuse United fans. According to , the Croatian coach was once asked whether he should rotate Amrabat after the player had taken a 20-hour round trip to help Morocco qualify for the World Cup.

“Give him a rest? Sofyan would stay on the pitch until he passed out," was his response. Juric has credited Amrabat with turning Verona's fortunes around when he signed from Club Brugge in January 2020, when the club were in danger of being relegated from Serie A. They ended up finishing ninth, with Amrabat winning the club's Player of the Year award.

Juric added: “Amrabat is the biggest surprise of my life. We all thought he was just a physical midfielder, but he showed there was great tactical depth to his game. He cared about the shirt, his team-mates and the coaching staff. He plays until he dies.

"It’s a reminder that not only the gifted players can reach the top. Sometimes it can be the players with the special mindset and the willpower. Because that is what Sofyan is all about. He has that huge mindset of ‘Day in, day out, work hard, keep going’. He was always fighting and I mean that in a good way. This is what he brings to Manchester United: his power, but also, mentally, his willpower.”

Getty/GOALFighting through the pain

There is also the tale of how Amrabat recovered from a back injury during the World Cup to play against Spain, going on to give one of the best performances of his career as his side defeated the 2010 winners on penalties to reach the quarter-finals.

"I couldn’t move, my back was locked," he recalled to . "I worked with the physio until three in the morning to try to make it better. We tried everything and I didn’t sleep at all because it was so stressful. All I was thinking was, 'Can I play?'

"On the morning of the game, I was still in pain. I spoke to the coach and he told me, 'You have to play, we need you, it’s the World Cup, your country needs you'. It was not an option for me not to play. But I was scared of letting anyone down with my performance.

"I didn’t know how I was going to do it. I hadn’t slept, I felt tired, I had back pain. I did the warm-up and I was still not good. So I told the coach again, 'I want to play, but as long as you know you may have to change me after 10 minutes'.

"I had an injection and when I heard the referee’s whistle I just forgot everything. I played like crazy. It was 120 minutes because the game went to extra-time. I ran 15 kilometres, the most of everyone on the pitch."

GettyThe next best thing after De Jong

Amrabat is far more than just an energetic workhorse, however. He wants to get on the ball as much as he can and for good reason. Last season for Fiorentina, he ranked fifth among Serie A's midfielders with an average of 73.9 touches per game, while he averaged 7.93 progressive passes per league match, more than Arsenal captain Martin Odegaard and just behind Manchester City's Rodri.

He completed the most passes of any player in the UEFA Conference League (850), made the most passes into the final third (108) and carried the ball the greatest distance (2,326 yards). He made the third-highest number of switch passes (cross-field balls) and ranked eighth in passing accuracy, averaging 92.3 percent.

Amrabat is adept at carrying the ball from defence down the pitch while evading pressure and that is one of the key reasons United were attracted to him, having spent so much time and energy the previous summer trying to sign Frenkie de Jong.

While United have many experienced and physical players, they do not have anyone who can seamlessly shuttle between defence and attack with the ball, and Amrabat should add another dimension to United's style of play.

"He has more abilities and you need that as a player at the highest level, you need a bigger skillset but his stamina, his dynamics that is one of his biggest," Ten Hag said.