Manchester United starlet responds to Rúben Amorim call with staff “confused” over lack of first-team chances

One Manchester United Academy star has responded to Rúben Amorim’s recent goalscoring call, with club staff “confused” about why he hasn’t received a chance with the first-team yet.

Rúben Amorim’s most glaring issue at Manchester United in the last few months has been the squad’s lack of goals.

Alejandro Garnacho has not scored in over 20 appearances in a row, while Rasmus Højlund has not netted in 19, which has left fans feeling restless.

Although Joshua Zirkzee recently scored against Real Sociedad, that was only his third goal in 22 appearances, although many of these have been from the bench or playing as a wide player.

United are without Amad, who was the side’s top scorer before his ankle injury last month, and let go of both Antony and Marcus Rashford on loan in January without bringin in a replacement.

Why United’s players are not scoring goals

The subject of United’s attacking troubles has been a theme in Amorim’s recent press conferences, with the head coach stating many times he feels his players are too anxious in front of goal.

This point was raised again the other day after the Sociedad draw with Amorim stating he feels Højlund needs to stop being anxious in front of goal despite his dry run across 2025 so far.

“He is trying really hard,” Amorim said. “He made the runs, we know that Real Sociedad has a high line and he used his pace to win and fight. He has to continue playing and not be anxious.”

On Zirkzee scoring, Amorim added: “He deserved it, he is working well and he is improving a lot of things in his game. He deserves this moment and he was important for us today.”

United Academy star responds to Amorim’s call

While the first-team may be anxious in front of goal, the club’s U18s are not. Across the Premier League’s U18 divisions, the Academy side have scored 65 league goals, the most of any team in the competition, and put up a fighting display against Derby County, coming back to win 3-2 away from home after being down 2-1 at half-time.

Daniel Armer scored United’s first on Saturday afternoon, with second-half goals from Gabriele Biancheri and James Scanlon securing all three points to put them top of the table, although Manchester City are just one point behind with a game in hand.

United’s winning goal was a penalty finish from Scanlon, showing Amorim he has no anxiety issues in front of goal, after Biancheri was brought down into the area.

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Scanlon has been on brilliant form this season, and according to reports, staff within the Academy set-up have been left “confused” as to why he has not been granted more opportunities within the first-team set-up.

He was involved in first-team training last week ahead of the Sociedad tie but did not make the final squad that flew to Spain despite Amorim only taking 18 of a possible 23 players.

With United struggling for goals and Scanlon continuing to show his confidence in front of the net, he is becoming harder and harder to ignore.

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