Manchester United splashing cash on new strikers adds pressure on Ruben Amorim to deliver

LONDON – After their worst season in 51 years last term, the only way is up for Manchester United.

Complete with a new £200 million (S$350 million) strike force, manager Ruben Amorim has the backing of fans to bring about lasting change. Now he must deliver.

From the start, Amorim has always said, given the choice, he would not have taken on the monumental task of awakening English football’s joint-most successful club from its slumber when he did, mid-season.

The Portuguese coach insisted he was given a “now or never” ultimatum before succeeding Erik ten Hag in November 2024, taking an underperforming side to plentiful lows – worst finish, most defeats, fewest points and fewest goals in their Premier League history.

Amorim asked supporters to judge him after he had a full pre-season to instil his ideas properly. Now, the arrival of three new forwards gives him greater tools to succeed.

Striker Benjamin Sesko could be flanked for the season-opener against Arsenal by exciting forwards Matheus Cunha and Bryan Mbeumo, who both have something United attackers of late have lacked – Premier League goalscoring pedigree.

As United slumped to an unfathomable 15th spot last term, the concession of 54 goals was their joint-third worst defensive record in Premier League history.

It was their inability to score that proved more damaging, however. They mustered a record-low 44 league strikes, five fewer than in any Premier League season.

“The hardest part of last season was to go to the games and know that we are not going to be competitive,” Amorim told reporters on the club’s pre-season tour of the United States.

“Nowadays I’m better, I’m more excited. I also think I learnt a lot. We will be a better team.

“Not just because I truly believe that we can be better, but I truly believe that I will be better at managing this season.

“Now we are in a better place, but we are just beginning. We have to perform. And I really like the pressure. If I have the feeling that before the game we are going to be competitive, we’ll be OK.

“I just don’t want to return to that feeling that we are thinking it’s not a 50-50 game.”

Supporters have been buoyed that new signings have not been put off by the fact United will not be competing in any European competition this season for the first time in 11 years.

Mbeumo and Sesko especially had plenty of other clubs reportedly interested in them, but the pull of United, despite being without a league title since 2013, remains.

“From the start, I wanted to join this massive club,” Mbeumo said after signing. “Now I’m here, I’m just really happy. For me, it’s the biggest club in the world. Every player wants to play here.”

More new signings are needed across the team for any major improvement this season, however.

Skipper Bruno Fernandes labelled the last US tour performance in a 2-2 draw with Everton as “lazy”, calling on the club to make more additions before the transfer window shuts at the end of the month.

Otherwise, their trip across the Atlantic was unanimously positive. 

With a starting line-up retaining nine of the team that performed so poorly in their Europa League final loss to Tottenham Hotspur, United looked energised and, at times, entertaining in a 4-1 win over Bournemouth, while also beating West Ham to finish unbeaten in their three-match series.

Amorim faces some daunting early fixtures, with Arsenal, Manchester City and Chelsea in their opening five games.

Still, he needs to harness some rare positivity gleaned from scoring some goals over pre-season to at least start setting United back on the right path. REUTERS