It is the sort of backing that a manager has wanted at Man Utd for the longest time, but Ruben Amorim has been given the strongest one yet if the club’s brutal latest step is an indication.
The tone for the 2025/26 season had already been set when five Man Utd players – Alejandro Garnacho, Antony, Jadon Sancho, Marcus Rashford, and Tyrell Malacia were asked not to report for training.
While the rest of the Man Utd squad returned on July 7, these five were free to use the facilities, but their motive was to find a new club.
If that was brutal and a line drawn in the sand, then United’s latest step couldn’t be a clearer indicator that they’re all-in on Ruben Amorim’s project.
Manchester United Players Return from International Tournaments Return to Pre-Season Training
Photo by Zohaib Alam – MUFC/Manchester United via Getty Images
Ruben Amorim cracks the whip at Man Utd
Amorim was eager for a clear slate to start the season, but, because the Glazers have saddled some truly unmovable contracts on the club’s books, it was a pipe dream more than a realistic scenario.
Therefore, it came as quite a surprise when the five players were told not to come back with the rest of the group.
Clearly, Amorim is no longer concerned about “protecting the value” of the club’s assets. He is just focused on resetting the culture at the club.
However, now that week has gone by, United faced another decision with the five, especially since they will leave for Sweden before going on the USA tour.
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The Athletic report that United have gone a step beyond their initial stance, hardening it further in their most brutal diktat yet.
The five wantaway players have been told they can come to Carrington to train, but only after 5 PM when the “first-team squad” will have finished their sessions.
They will also be able to come for training when the squad leaves for Sweden to play Leeds on July 19, so the clear basis of the diktat is that those five players should be nowhere near the first-team picture.
With that move, United have all but ended their chances of getting a fair fee for any of these five players.
Ineos backing Amorim unequivocally
Man Utd fans would remember Erik ten Hag saving his job by the skin of his teeth last season, only to be saddled with a returning Jadon Sancho on his return to pre-season.
Being undermined in that way and forcing an awkward reunion with Sancho doomed him from the beginning, and that’s not a mistake Ineos will repeat with their own man.
This latest step proves United have resigned themselves to the scenario where they will get rid of these five players at any cost, regardless of what the “financial optics” of such a step suggest.
They have prioritised a cultural reset over financial posturing to save a few million here and there while risking team harmony.
That’s as clear a sign of unequivocal backing for a manager as any other Man Utd manager had dreamt of in the dugout at Old Trafford.
The eggs will soon be in Amorim’s basket to live up to that support.