In the hours after Manchester United’s Europa League final defeat to Tottenham last week, Ruben Amorim’s position came under question.
The Portuguese coach, hired to replace Erik Ten Hag in the Old Trafford dugout just last November, has overseen 16 defeats in 41 games and presided over United’s worst league finish in 50 years.
They now face no European football next term for only the second time since 1990.
“I am not going to talk about the future,” Amorim said after the Spurs loss in Bilbao. “Tonight, we need to deal with the pain of losing this match.
“Today was really poor. I think I am always honest with you guys. I have nothing to show to the fans, so at this moment it is a little bit of faith.
“Let’s see (about my future). I am always open. If the board and fans feel I am not the right guy, I will go in the next day without any conversation about compensation, but I will not quit.”
But as the dust settled over the following days, reports emerged of the United owners’ faith in Amorim. The manager was not only retained but has been granted oversight of a squad overhaul this summer.
And in a meeting with his players ahead of their Premier League season concluding with a Alejandro Garnacho to find a new club.
The Spain-born Argentina winger has been one of few developmental success stories at Old Trafford in recent years.
An academy graduate who shone during the club’s 11th FA Youth Cup triumph in 2022, he established himself as a first-team regular under Ten Hag and has since gone one to score 26 goals in 144 senior appearances.
Yet the 20-year-old has been in and out of the side under Amorim. And when he was only named to the bench for the Europa League final, coming on for the final 20 minutes, he vented his frustration at being left out of the line-up before hinting at a potential summer exit by saying he would “see what happens” after a break.
“It’s hard for everyone,” Garnacho told reporters. “The season was s***, both now losing the final tonight, and in the league, where we didn’t beat anyone, that’s the truth.
“Up until the final, I’ve played every round, and today to play 20 minutes...I don’t know. I’m going to try to enjoy the summer and see what happens after.”
While Garnacho’s frustration is understandable, he – like many of his teammates – had done little across the course of the campaign to feel as though his place in the starting XI should be assured.
In 2,196 minutes of Premier League action, he delivered just six goals and two assists, with just one goal added in 15 Europa League outings.
Clearly angered by the player’s outburst – and likely also by criticism from Garnacho’s brother on social media – Amorim left the winger out of the matchday squad for the season closer against Villa.
Garnacho’s impending sale will boost Amorim’s efforts to restock his squad with players capable of executing his 3-4-3 vision for the Red Devils.
As an academy product, the £40-50 million he is expected to fetch will be recorded as pure profit from an ing perspective, soothing the financial constraints under which the 20-time champions find themselves ahead of what is expected to be a busy summer.
And Garnacho’s place on the left side of United’s attacking trident looks to have already been filled, as Amorim closes in on the £62.5 million capture of Matheus Cunha from Wolves.
But aside from the financial and footballing reasons for expediting Garnacho’s Old Trafford exit, there is also the matter of the cultural impact of the player’s departure.
The Argentinian raised a dissenting voice against a manager under pressure. Amorim has moved quickly to stamp out any festering effects this might have caused had it gone unchecked.
Personality will be as big a part of any successful rebuild as performance on the pitch.
Garnacho’s likely sale also represents a tricky needle for Amorim to thread, however, when it comes to reimagining the squad at his disposal.
As well as being associated for so long with domestic dominance under Sir Alex Ferguson, United were also synonymous with daring, attacking wing play and a deep-rooted connection to their youth system.
One element of that three-pronged identity has crumbled completely in the years since Ferguson’s retirement; the other two are embodied by Garnacho and could erode further if he leaves.
United have included at least one academy graduate in their first-team squad for every match they have played since 1937 – a record stretching well over 4,000 games.
Now, with Garnacho as good as gone, Kobbie Mainoo’s name appearing in transfer rumours, that remarkable run is under threat.
Garnacho, who was signed from Atletico Madrid as a 16-year-old, already stretched the definition of who could be considered a Carrington graduate; the likes of Chido Obi – who were both signed from Arsenal last season and made a handful of under-18s appearances before breaking into the first-team picture – would stretch it to breaking point.
So as Amorim and United approach a summer that will require walking a financial tightrope as they seek to build toward future success, they must also carefully balance their ambitions with the need for a cultural reset and without abandoning the club’s dearly held traditions.
The Garnacho situation encapsulates that complicated calculus.
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