Ruben Amorim has called for more authority at Manchester United and hinted he will leave the club in 18 months’ time after a heated ending to his post-match press conference. Amorim was speaking after the Red Devils’ 1-1 draw with Leeds United and cast doubt over his long-term future at Old Trafford. The Portuguese coach wants to be the manager, not the head coach, at United but has regardless suggested he will walk away from the job when his contract expires in the summer of 2027.
Amorim has been the United head coach since being appointed in November 2024. But he suggested he wants more power at the club while speaking to journalists on Friday. And after the draw at Leeds, the 40-year-old manager stated: “Guys, to stop with that, I noticed that you receive selective information about everything. I came here to be the manager of Manchester United, not to be the coach of Manchester United. And that is clear. I know that my name is not [Thomas] Tuchel, it’s not [Antonio] Conte, it’s not [Jose] Mourinho, but I’m the manager of Manchester United.
“And it’s going to be like this for 18 months, or when the board decides to change. So that was my point, I want to finish with that. I’m not going to quit. I will do my job until the other guy is coming here to replace me.”
After repeating several times that he will leave once his existing deal at Old Trafford runs out, Amorim then hinted at broken promises from INEOS over his powers at the club. He said: “I just want to say that I’m going to be the manager of this team, not just the coach. And I was really clear on that.
“And that is going to finish in 18 months and then everyone is going to move on. That was the deal. That is my job, not to be a coach. If people cannot handle the Gary Neville and the criticism of everything, we need to change the club.
“No, guys, I just want to say that I came here to be the manager of Manchester United, not to be the coach. And every department, the scouting department, the sports director needs to do their job. I will do mine for 18 months and then we move on.”
PLAYER RATINGS: Four 5/10s as United draw away at Leeds
Speaking to TNT Sports about the match itself, Amorim admitted United left Elland Road “frustrated” despite Matheus Cunha cancelling out Brenden Aaronson’s opener 174 seconds later. He reflected: “I think we played well. I think we had more control in this game than we showed against Wolves.
“That is important because it shows how you can prepare for this week with the mistakes that we learned from the last game. We controlled Leeds, on the set pieces, the second balls, they are really quick up front. We controlled it well. We had our opportunities to win the game.
And discussing the open January transfer window, Amorim once again hinted there will be no reinforcements this month. He added: “United is one of the best clubs in the world. If you are here and focusing on a different club then something is wrong with you. Just focus on the game and prepare with the players that we havee. We have more too, I expect more minutes for [Bruno] Fernandes and [Mason] Mount, so we have more players that can help us.”
While goalscorer Cunha said to the BBC: “It is easier to say that every game we want to win but of course after the draw against Wolves at Old Trafford three was a negative feeling and we wanted to change that, to come here and win, and to step into the top four. Today the feeling is a little bit like this again, we wanted to win but we drew, so we need to go again.
“I feel like the first half was ok. We talk in the dressing room about managing the press and we tried to do something but we did not create a lot. In the second half we have the goal which I think was a lack of attention from everyone but we scored after three minutes and give ourselves energy to try to go for more.”
United return to action on Wednesday night when they travel to Turf Moor to face 19th-placed Burnley who have only won three of their 20 Premier League matches so far this season.