Manchester United reportedly sacked Rúben Amorim as head coach following his comments about three of the stars on their books, as a further three pushed to leave.
Manchester United have parted ways with head coach Rúben Amorim following a 1-1 draw against Leeds at Elland Road on Sunday.
The result was followed by an explosive outburst from Amorim, in which he claimed he wanted to speak to the club’s manager rather than their head coach.
Reports had also suggested rising friction between the United boss and Director of Football Jason Wilcox over tactical approach and recruitment priorities.
Despite this, the club maintain that Amorim’s dismissal was not linked to any internal power struggle, but rather a lack of sufficient progress on the pitch.
United stunned at Amorim criticism of three players
A whole host of reasons for Amorim’s sacking have since emerged, with transfer disagreements and requests to change the formation at the crux of the issues. However, reports are emerging that the club were also becoming increasingly baffled by his behaviour.
According to The Sun, insiders were becoming increasingly bemused by Amorim’s changes in mood over the last few weeks regarding transfer priorities, even though he had been made well aware that there would be no significant changes in January.
But, another point of contention and something that the club looked down on was his calling out of Academy stars Chido Obi and Harry Amass.
Amorim used Obi as an example of a player who was not ready for first-team action with no prompt to do so, while he claimed Amass was “struggling” at Sheffield Wednesday despite winning their Player of the Month awards for November and December.
They were also bemused at his public criticism of Patrick Chinazaekpere Dorgu, whom he openly called “anxious” and singled out during a press conference late last year.
Three players desperate to leave United if Amorim stayed
As well as his criticism of the trio, who are all 21 years old or younger, three players were desperate to remain at the club if the United boss had stayed.
Read More: Can Man Utd recall Marcus Rashford this month from Barcelona after Rúben Amorim sacking? Explained
According to MailSport, all three of Kobbie Mainoo, Joshua Zirkzee, and Manuel Ugarte were ‘desperate’ to leave United this month if Amorim remained at United. However, their futures may change following his departure.
Mainoo has been long-linked with a loan move to Napoli to increase his game time ahead of the World Cup, while United have an offer of a loan with an obligation to buy from AS Roma for Zirkzee.
At the same time, Ugarte is generating intense interest from Turkish club Galatasaray, although this is still a move that could go through in the coming weeks, as he’s not highly rated compared to his competition at Old Trafford, and new space would need to be made for summer midfield targets.
Make sure to follow UtdDistrict on X, Instagram, Facebook, YouTube, and TikTok to never miss out on any of our Manchester United content. Our podcast, What the Devil?, is streamed live every Thursday at 14:00 pm (GMT) on the United View YouTube channel.