Ruben Amorim is still firmly Ineos’ man, but his demands should ring alarm bells in Omar Berrada’s mind because it goes against his promise at Man Utd.
It is slightly surprising to note that in the larger context, Man Utd have lost just one of their last seven games, so Ruben Amorim has some momentum on his side.
It’s quite clear that Ineos and Omar Berrada have fully hitched their wagon to Amorim’s train, which is why he has been backed through his toughest spell at Old Trafford.
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However, there is a sense of a negative deja vu creeping in with Amorim’s demands, because they go against everything Berrada promised would happen under Ineos.
Ruben Amorim, of Manchester United during the Premier League match between Crystal Palace and Manchester United at Selhurst Park on November 30, 2025
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Omar Berrada’s promise at Man Utd
Ruben Amorim has always spoken with full honesty at Man Utd that he’s doing everything he can for the club, and if, at any point, the board thinks he’s not, he’ll leave.
That’s an admirable stance to take, but his transfer demands of late go against Berrada’s promise at United.
Erik ten Hag had a lot of faults, but it is widely accepted that the thing that ultimately doomed him at the club was his poor record in the transfer market.
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Ten Hag almost seemed to be driving the club’s transfer vision single-handedly, buying players he knew well, regardless of their suitability for the club.
It led to a situation where the next manager didn’t fancy many of his players, shipping them off and leaving the club in a “wasted asset situation”.
Berrada promised that under Ineos, players will no longer be bought for a manager. Rather, they will be driven by the club’s vision, which is a part of the long-term strategy.
So far, Ineos have largely adhered to that promise, even though the club selling off wingers by the bucketful was a slightly risky move.
Amorim’s latest demands are where it starts getting dangerous because he might be dragging Ineos down the slippery slope Ten Hag perished on.
Ruben Amorim’s transfer demands are dicey
Amorim saw United spend nearly £250 million on new players last summer, to add to Patrick Dorgu’s arrival last January.
Push comes to shove: Would you rather have Kobbie Mainoo stay at Man Utd or Ruben Amorim?
Kobbie Mainoo and Ruben Amorim split
Credit: James Gill – Danehouse/Getty Images
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Now, he reportedly wants an “Amad-like” player for left wing-back, one who is right-footed, in addition to a midfielder “compatible with his system”.
Those two profiles aren’t club-driven; they are purely a necessity to make a particular system work, which goes against Berrada’s promise.
A club-driven agenda would be telling Amorim to make use of a talent like Kobbie Mainoo, instead of selling him to get a special profile who can excel as a No. 6 in Amorim’s system.
The same goes for his need for a right-footed left wing-back. Amad is a wing-back in Amorim’s system, but it would be ridiculous to play him as a right-back in a back four.
United might end up with specialist wing-backs of no use to another manager as potential full-backs, while lacking wingers to play an inverted forward system.
They could lose Mainoo, who will undoubtedly flourish elsewhere in midfield, and be stuck with an athletic profile of players who are otherwise limited.
United must intervene and immediately stop going down this dangerous road, even more so because Amorim has shown no signs of making this system work in the league.
If a manager needs 11 specialist profiles of players to play at their maximum level every game without making any mistakes to win a game, then the role of the manager is left redundant.