Manchester United must avoid recruitment mistakes of the past, says Ruben Amorim
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Ruben Amorim arrived at United in November 2024 to replace the sacked Erik ten Hag but has won just four Premier League matches during a miserable run.
PHOTO: REUTERS
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LONDON – Manchester United manager Ruben Amorim believes avoiding the kind of expensive mistakes the club have made in the transfer market is the key to halting the English giants’ decline.
The Portuguese has been unable to turn around the Red Devils’ miserable season since taking charge in November, with the team sitting 15th in the English Premier League before their home clash with Ipswich Town on Feb 26.
That match kicked off after press time.
United have been performing poorly despite spending over £600 million (S$1.02 billion) in just over two years on new players under Amorim’s predecessor Erik ten Hag.
The new manager, meanwhile, had limited funds to work with in the January transfer window. Danish defender Patrick Dorgu was his only major signing as budgets have been slashed across the board.
The club announced on Feb 24 that they expect up to 200 fresh redundancies as part of a “transformation plan” to improve stability.
Amorim admitted that those losing their jobs had paid the price for the club’s lack of on-field success in recent years and put poor recruitment at the heart of the problem.
“It’s easy for me to be here and say all the pretty stuff – we have to improve,” he said.
“The recruitment I think is crucial, we need to improve the team. We need to perform better, we need to be in Europe and not in our position during the season.”
However, the former Sporting Lisbon coach conceded that actions speak louder than words and he has to convince both supporters and colleagues that he can turn United’s fortunes around.
“They are paying the price for our lack of success and I cannot say anything now that is going to convince the fans and all the staff that we are going to do it,” he said.
“We have an idea. For me as a coach, we need to be a better team and to recruit better and don’t make a lot of mistakes in that department.”
The £100 million outlay on misfiring strikers Rasmus Hojlund and Joshua Zirkzee is just one example of where United have failed to get value for money.
Before the match against Ipswich, Hojlund has only found the net twice in the Premier League this season, with his last goal in any competition coming against Viktoria Plzen on Dec 12.
Zirkzee, meanwhile, has just three league goals this term. AFP
