Manchester United have continued to struggle after replacing Erik ten Hag with Ruben Amorim, but the Portuguese has already axed several senior players in the January transfer window
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Updated 09:29, 21 Mar 2025
Manchester United boss Ruben Amorim
Manchester United boss Ruben Amorim(Image: Getty Images)
Manchester United boss Ruben Amorim has already got rid of two players that his predecessor, Erik ten Hag, reportedly felt let him down. Ten Hag was sacked back in October after a poor start to the season, despite United backing him with a contract extension and more than £200million worth of new signings over the summer.
Amorim has since replaced him in the dugout and the Portuguese shipped out several players in the January transfer window. Among them were forwards Marcus Rashford and Antony, who joined Aston Villa and Real Betis on loan respectively.
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It comes after both Rashford and Antony were identified as players that Ten Hag felt let him down during his tenure, according to a report from the Daily Star, and the pair have since rediscovered some form out on loan.
Rashford has returned to the England squad after producing four assists in nine games for Villa, while Antony has scored four goals and contributed four assists in 11 appearances for Betis.
Both players could make those moves permanent in the summer, with Amorim looking to bring in new faces that better suit his system. And United have confirmed they will back him in the transfer window, despite their financial struggles.
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"There's no doubt that if we qualify to the Champions League we will have more revenues and we'll have more capacity to invest in the team," United CEO Omar Berrada said. "But we are putting in place various financial measures to allow us to go and invest at the summer, even if we're outside of Europe.
"Ultimately, what we want to do is to be more efficient in our investment into the squad. So just because we'll have more revenues to invest if we're in the Champions League, it doesn't mean we're going to go and over-invest.
Antony and Marcus Rashford
Amorim has shipped both Antony and Marcus Rashford out on loan(Image: Paul Currie/REX/Shutterstock)
"We need to be cautious and we need to try to make as many good decisions as we can in recruitment. And also when it comes to sales, we will do it purely on the basis of whether it helps improve the team or not, not for financial reasons.
"On the technical side, we have a coach that has a very clear identity and very clear idea of how he wants the team to play. Then we have Jason Wilcox as a technical director who works extremely closely with Ruben and they're very aligned on what we need to do in terms of recruitment.
"Then there are certain areas that need to be improved. Data analytics is one of them. And again, it's at the top of our list of the areas that we want to invest in to get better at.
"Because as you all know, to improve, to be really good at recruitment, you need the very good technical people that are complemented by very good data analytics insights."
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