Ruben Amorim: Some Man United players will want to leave in January

“A lot of things can happen,” Amorim said of the January window. “Even in our club, and you know that we have the World Cup, some players are not playing, they will ask to leave, so I have to manage everything.”

But what about incomings? Jason Wilcox, the club’s director of football, said this week that they know they need to continue to back Amorim and strengthen the squad if they are to win the Premier League and Champions League again.

Having invested heavily in the forward line in the summer, many assumed the midfield would be the next area United would look to strengthen, but Amorim said he had no idea about January targets.

“We want to bring players, everyone here, we want to bring players that we can see a big future for in Manchester United. We are not just buying one guy, because now we feel in December that we need this kind of player for now. We want to buy players that we know we are not going to change a lot of times. That is our idea,” he said.

“So I don’t know what is going to happen, but of course we think about how we can improve the team, and in January the window is open, we can do something.”

That Amorim, 40, is still in position to receive questions about the January window may come as a surprise to some given the way his first season at the club played out. Saturday marks a year since he was confirmed as Erik ten Hag’s successor and up until recently, when they have won three league games on the bounce for the first time under him, it has proved to be a tricky 12 months.

As he approached the milestone and prepared to face Nottingham Forest at the City Ground he admitted there were times when he doubted whether he would make his one-year anniversary.

“It’s hard to say that, sometimes there were some moments that were tough to deal with, to lose so many games, that was so hard for me,” he said. “Because this is Manchester United, the position that we had in the last year, putting all the attention on the Europa League and not winning, that was massive.

“I had some moments that I struggled a lot, and I was thinking that maybe it’s not meant to be. Today is the opposite. Today I feel that, and I know that, it was the best decision in my life and I want to be here.”

Throughout his first year in charge he has stuck to his 3-4-3 philosophy despite intense pressure and scrutiny to change his tactics. Amorim made clear from the beginning that he would be enforcing his system and he has stuck to his guns despite some dreadful results.

As they now look to win four league games in a row for the first time since February 2024, is there a temptation to say to his critics that he has been proved right?

“No, because I know that in two weeks this could change again, and you will say, ‘No, no, we were right,’ so it’s like a crazy conversation,” he said. “I just have a clear idea how I want to do things, I’m always saying the same thing. Maybe my way of doing things is going to take more time, for people to start seeing things, but then there’s also luck in the games.

“Again, we had some luck against Liverpool [when United won 2-1] and all the narrative changed because of that, so I understand football, I just do what I feel is the best thing for the team and the club.”

Nottingham Forest v Manchester United

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