Multiple sources have revealed Manchester United have given Ruben Amorim their backing for now, with no immediate plans to sack him, but the club are continuing to explore potential replacements and with a golden opportunity presenting itself to land one elite Premier League boss.
Amorim was named Manchester United manager last November, stepping into the shoes of Erik ten Hag. But any upturn in results that Sir Jim Ratcliffe will have been hoping for has not been forthcoming, with the Portuguese coach failing to consistently get any sort of rhythm out of his expensively assembled squad.
Having given Amorim significant funds to strengthen his side and fit in with his preferred 3-4-2-1 formation, the club will have hoped for a rapid improvement once this season got underway.
Instead, and having now been in charge of the club for 49 matches, the 40-year-old has overseen just 18 wins in that time, giving him a woeful 36.73 win percentage ratio – the worst posted by any manager at Old Trafford since World War II.
After Saturday’s dreadful 3-1 defeat at Brentford, United find themselves a lowly 14th in the table and showing no signs of immediate improvement under the former Sporting CP coach, leading to increased speculation that he could soon be facing the sack.
However, while the club continues to hold off on axing the manager just yet, instead waiting to see if results will improve, they are understood to be looking into potential replacements.
To that end, reports on Sunday claimed United had shortlisted three names to succeed the under-fire Amorim in the hotseat.
According to The Sun’s Samuel Luckhurst, that list features managers all currently working in the Premier League, with Fabian Hurzeler, Oliver Glasner and Andoni Iraola all on their wishlist.
Of those three names, though, it is one of them that stands out for a very obvious reason and with Ratcliffe now learning of the tempting conditions that present them with a golden opportunity to land on an elite successor…
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Man Utd make Amorim decision – but Iraola opportunity opens up
As confirmed by Luckhurst and backed up by the Daily Mail’s Chris Wheeler, United’s board have no immediate plans to axe the manager and plan to, as things stand, reserve judgement until the end of the season.
Despite that, and while acknowledging he is safe for now, Dean Jones wrote for TEAMtalk earlier this month that Amorim is doing himself no favours by continuing to show public negativity towards his role and United’s struggles, with his recent outburst following the Carabao Cup exit at Grimsby Town, in which he stated he felt like quitting, not going down well at the club.
Furthermore, as Luckhurst notes, the club wants to delay any decision before deciding if Amorim is the right man to restore the club to elite status despite a frustration that results have not quickly improved so far this season.
Amorim is also supported by the club’s director of football, Jason Wilcox, who, a report on Sunday revealed, is ‘keen to see Amorim succeed’ at Old Trafford.
Despite that, successors are being looked at and it seems United’s board have been alerted to the possibility of landing one of them – and without paying a penny in compensation.
And that’s because the contract of Iraola at Bournemouth is currently due to expire at the end of the current season, with the two-year arrangement he signed at the Vitality Stadium ending in June 2026.
The Spaniard has done a stellar job since taking charge of the south coast club, with Saturday’s last-ditch draw at Leeds lifting the Cherries up to sixth in the table, having suffered just one defeat – at champions Liverpool on the opening weekend – so far this season.
Understandably, Bournemouth would love to tie the 43-year-old down to a new deal and talks are understood to have taken place over an extension to that deal.
But while it remains unsigned and with him effectively becoming a free agent next summer, United know they would be foolish not to look into the possibility of landing one of the highest-rated coaches around without having to pay a penny.
What the pundits are saying about Amorim
Unfortunately for Amorim, the heat will continue to face him until United go about an improved run of form.
Sadly, a number of pundits just don’t see where or how that will happen, with question marks over both his temperament and system consistently being raised.
Sky Sports pundit Gary Neville told NBC Sports’ Rebecca Lowe: “I am very worried, Rebecca; there is no point in me sitting here and saying I’m not.
“The levels of performance, the results and the substitutions yesterday. I saw something at the end of the Grimsby game that they lost in the Carabao Cup a couple of weeks ago, which was Mason Mount ending up at left wing-back.
“We admire managers who are stubborn and resilient around their system, we want them to stick to their plan, but when you have Mason Mount playing at left-back, you are going to look pretty stupid.
“It has happened twice now and it can’t happen. The first time I thought it was unforgivable and yesterday it happened again.
“He changes his back three and his back five every single game and the performances and the results are just unacceptable.
“I’m really, really worried. I would never go on television, as I know how difficult a manager’s job can be, and say a manager should be sacked, but I suspect the hierarchy at Manchester United are going to want to see a turnaround.”
Those views are also echoed by Alan Shearer, when speaking on Match of the Day: “Ruben Amorim is under massive pressure.
“I think the hierarchy have made so many errors since coming to the club, they can’t be seen to have made another in appointing this manager. I think he is very fortunate.”
Former Arsenal defender Martin Keown noted: “They don’t look good enough. You then look at it and he only has a win percentage 1% more than Graham Potter, who has been sacked. How is he still in the job?
“If he was 12 months after Ferguson, this would have been done weeks ago.”
Ashley Williams, who played for Everton and Wales in his career, has openly called for the Red Devils to sack Amorim.
Williams said on BBC Final Score: “I don’t want to say they change manager, but how long can this continue? It seems to be every week that we’re talking about it.
“I’m a fan of managers who have a style and stick to it. That isn’t working. You have to adapt.
“I don’t see where Manchester United go with this unless they change manager.”
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Meanwhile, United have set their sights on a January move for an Atletico Madrid star, with a huge price tag putting them off signing the player they want most in Brighton’s Carlos Baleba, per reports.
The United hierarchy also want another change in the goalkeeping department after another failure to keep a clean sheet at the Gtech Stadium.
To that end, United are weighing up two big names in 2026, with Altay Bayindir now facing the axe and with a new plan taking shape for summer recruit, Senne Lammens.
And finally, Barcelona midfielder Gavi is expected to miss the next five months with injury, and the LaLiga giants have a plan to raid Old Trafford for his replacement, which TEAMtalk sees as perfect for him.