Rio Ferdinand has slammed talk of managers who almost joined Manchester United before Rúben Amorim was appointed last year.
Rúben Amorim’s first year in charge at Manchester United has not gone as many would have hoped, with their Premier League form having only picked up in the last month or so.
In the last campaign, United finished 15th in the table. Although they performed well in Europe, they then lost the final 1-0 to Ange Postecoglou’s Tottenham Hotspur, who had beaten them four times the previous season.
Losing said final meant that the club had no European football to compete in for the 2025/26 campaign, and an early exit in the Carabao Cup meant they were reduced to just one fixture a week for the last few months.
However, United’s last six Premier League games have seen the squad win four, draw one, and lose one, hinting at the possibility that the Reds are turning a corner under their head coach.
United had six-manager replacement list for Ten Hag
While former United manager Erik ten Hag was sacked in October 2024, according to The Athletic, the club had decided as early as May that it needed a new head coach, following a 4-0 loss against Crystal Palace.
The decision makers at the time drew up a six-manager shortlist to replace the Dutchman, consisting of Thomas Tuchel, Mauricio Pochettino, Roberto De Zerbi, Thomas Frank, Marco Silva, and Graham Potter, with Tuchel and De Zerbi the prime candidates.
However, amid various conversations with agents and others in the game, Amorim’s name kept coming up whenever United’s now director of football, Jason Wilcox, asked his contacts who the next big manager could be.
Eventually, after Tuchel and United’s board could not align with their ideas and De Zerbi rejected the club’s contract terms, Ten Hag was kept on but sacked just a few months later, with Amorim taking the helm.
Ferdinand rubishes De Zerbi talk
The news that ‘world-class‘ De Zerbi, now doing very well with Marseille, could have been United’s manager since last summer has stirred up a lot of talk among the club’s fans.
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However, when asked about it on his podcast, former United centre-back Rio Ferdinand had a simple message. “Who cares?” he asked.
“We’re in the moment where Amorim is starting to find a bit of positivity, and then we’re writing about someone who could have or should have taken the job over a year ago.
“It’s just nonsense, really. I just think it’s the… I knew that ages ago, but there’s no… What’s the point?”
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