Ruben Amorim has been sacked as Manchester United’s head coach with immediate effect following his outspoken rant at club bosses after Sunday’s draw at Leeds.
Former United midfielder and current Under 18s coach Darren Fletcher has been installed as caretaker manager for Wednesday’s trip to Burnley.
Amorim was given the news at Carrington on Monday morning, and United’s leadership team of players were also informed of the decision. The 40-year-old was due £12million in compensation if he was sacked before November 1, although it is unclear at this stage what his severance package will be.
Amorim has been in charge at Old Trafford for 14 months during a turbulent period in which United endured their worst season in more than half a century and missed out on Europe for only the second time in 35 years. He leaves with the club in sixth place in the Premier League.
The Portuguese boss arrived at United in November 2024 from Sporting Lisbon but his poor record has seen him become a figure of mockery, topped when the footage emerged of him using coaching magnets in the dugout during United’s defeat by Grimsby Town in the second round of the Carabao Cup in August.
A club statement read: ‘Ruben Amorim has departed his role as head coach of Manchester United.
The Portuguese international’s final game in charge was the 1-1 draw against Leeds on Sunday that leaves them sixth in the Premier League this season
Ruben Amorim was blasted across social media after footage emerged of him using coaching magnets in the dugout during Manchester United’s defeat to Grimsby earlier this season
‘Ruben was appointed in November 2024 and led the team to a UEFA Europa League Final in Bilbao in May.
‘With Manchester United sitting sixth in the Premier League, the club’s leadership has reluctantly made the decision that it is the right time to make a change. This will give the team the best opportunity of the highest possible Premier League finish.
‘The club would like to thank Ruben for his contribution to the club and wishes him well for the future. Darren Fletcher will take charge of the team against Burnley on Wednesday.’
Amorim’s position became untenable after he took aim at his employers, and director of football Jason Wilcox in particular, over the January transfer window and what he saw as his lack of control at the club.
Amorim hinted at problems over Christmas and in his pre-match press conference on Friday, and then went a step further in an extraordinary rant at Elland Road.
He said: ‘I noticed that you received selective information about everything. I came here to be the manager of Manchester United… not to be the coach of Manchester United. That is clear.
‘I know my name is not (Thomas) Tuchel, it’s not (Antonio) Conte, it’s not (Jose) Mourinho, but I am the manager of Manchester United and it’s going to be like this for 18 months or when the board decide to change. That was my point and I want to finish with that. I’m not going to quit. I will do my job until other guy is coming here to replace me.
‘I just want to say that I am 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 Nevilles, the criticism, everything… we need to change the club. I just want to say that.
‘I came here to be the manager of Manchester United, not to be the coach. In every department, the scouting department, the sporting director needs to do his job, and I will do mine for 18 months and then we move on.’
It’s understood that the United hierarchy feel there has not been enough evolution or progress under Amorim despite spending £250m on players during his time in charge.
It included signing Benjamin Sesko, Bryan Mbeumo and Matheus Cunha in the summer, but sources insist that Amorim was on board with the decision to sign three forwards rather than a new midfielder which is believed to have become a bone of contention in the January window.
They have played down talk of a power struggle with Wilcox behind the scenes, and insist Amorim has had unwavering support from his bosses. But they also believe that a head coach must operate within a broader set-up.
Despite concerns that the squad assembled under Amorim is geared towards his 3-4-2-1 system, insiders maintain that it is flexible enough to adapt under a new coach, and the decision to sack him has been made to give the team best chance of qualifying for Europe this season.
Jamie Carragher ripped into Amorim in an astonishing dressing down following the United boss’ commments on Sunday.
Carragher pulled no punches as he described Amorim as a ‘barely competent’ Premier League manager and told the Portuguese he is in ‘no position’ to criticise the club’s hierarchy.
‘It can only be two things – it can either be about the January transfer market and feeling that he’s not being backed, or the people above him are questioning the fact that, at this moment, he’s been flip-flopping between systems,’ the Liverpool legend said on Sky Sports.
‘It started to look like maybe he was getting somewhere moving to a back four, he went back to five at the back against Wolves and it brought possibly one of the worst performances of the season from a team.
‘No matter what it is, I don’t think he is in any position whatsoever to be questioning the people who appointed him.
‘He’s not good enough. He’s not good enough to be Manchester United’s manager. He’s barely competent enough to be a Premier League manager right now.
‘That’s not me being disrespectful to Amorim. He’s been there well over 12 months now and I think almost all managers in the Premier League who are managing different clubs at different ends of the table would look at Manchester United and think “I’d get more points than that”.
‘This is a guy who said at one stage this is possibly the worst Manchester United team in history. He’s managing it.’
