Amorim discovers Man Utd transfer budget – and it's bad news for new manager

Ruben Amorim will be expected to improve the players he has at Manchester United, who are determined to implement a more sustainable approach to transfers.

United showered Erik ten Hag with expensive new players, shelling out more than £600million on transfers over his two-and-a-half-year reign as manager. Amorim is the first head coach hired by Sir Jim Ratcliffe’s INEOS ownership and his arrival signals a changing of approach.

The 39-year-old was brought in from Sporting Lisbon, alongside his coaching staff, because United consider him to be the brightest young coach in Europe. He worked wonders at Sporting, turning around an unhappy camp to win two league titles and two cups.

After paying around £15m to get rid of Ten Hag and his staff, just months after giving him a new contract, and paying Sporting £9.25m in compensation to hire Amorim mid-season, United are drawing a line under things. The club has posted losses before tax of £312.9m over the past three seasons and are under pressure to comply with profit and sustainability rules.

Around £180m was spent in the summer transfer window to sign Leny Yoro, Matthijs de Ligt, Joshua Zirkzee, Noussair Mazraoui and Manuel Ugarte and Amorim has been told not to expect funds for the upcoming January transfer window. The Telegraph reports that he will be given a ‘more modest budget’ compared to Ten Hag, because the club believes there is untapped potential in the squad he has inherited.

Rasmus Hojlund, a £72m arrival from Atalanta, and Mason Mount, a £55m signing from Chelsea, are cited as two such examples. Amorim and his staff have been brought in to coax improvements out of such players and build around the young core in the squad.

The INEOS ownership, led by sporting director Dan Ashworth, technical director Jason Wilcox, chief executive Omar Berrada and INEOS director of sport Dave Brailsford, are also aware of the potential impact that missing out of the Champions League for a second straight year could have. United are currently 13th, four points adrift of the top four, ahead of Amorim’s first game in charge against Ipswich on Sunday.

The new leadership team has already overseen a huge cost-cutting exercise, which included making 250 people redundant in the summer after a strategic review, which their accounts showed cost £47.8m. They have since made headlines for considering halving the amount they give to their disabled supporters’ association.

The uncertain picture means that United are very unlikely to be busy in the January transfer window, despite continued links with Sporting’s top players, including Viktor Gyokeres, and Bayern Munich left-back Alphonso Davies. Instead, Amorim will have to wait until the summer transfer window, when there will be more room to manoeuvre.

Christian Eriksen, Victor Lindelof and Jonny Evans expire at the end of the season, while the contracts of Harry Maguire and Amad Diallo are due to expire but do have the option to extend for another year. Meanwhile, Chelsea have an obligation to buy Jadon Sancho if they finish in the top 14 of the Premier League.