Manchester United head coach Ruben Amorim has revealed the truth behind his crunch talks with co-owner Sir Jim Ratcliffe this week.
Ratcliffe arrived at Carrington on Thursday by helicopter to speak to Amorim about United’s horrific start to the 2025-26 campaign.
Amorim only arrived at United in November but is already under huge pressure – with some outlets claiming he could be close to a sacking.
Despite spending more than £200m on new players in the summer transfer window, the Red Devils have won just one game so far this season.
That victory came against promoted side Burnley at Old Trafford, and even in that match United required a 97th-minute winner to secure three points.
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United also crashed out of the Carabao Cup to League Two side Grimsby Town in the second round after an embarrassing loss on penalties.
Last term, United finished 15th in the Premier League table, failing to land any silverware and not qualifying for Europe for the first time in a decade.
Amorim, though, speaking ahead of Saturday’s clash with Chelsea, has insisted that he still has Ratcliffe’s full support despite United’s poor form.
‘New contract! He was offering me a new contract!’ Amorim joked in his pre-match press conference when asked about the talks with Ratcliffe.
‘No, it was normal things, to show his support, explaining that it is a long project. He said many times this is my first [full] season.
‘For me it’s not… But normal things. I spoke with him, Omar [Berrada] and Jason [Wilcox], trying to see all the data around the team.
‘So a normal meeting and we had several. But in this moment, it’s normal people pay attention to that.’
Amorim is convinced his team are ‘improving’ when comparing this season’s performances to the 2024-25 campaign.
‘This is football and this is maybe the club with the most pressure in the world,’ Amorim added.
‘We want to win. And again, you can say whatever. I think last year I was very critical of the way we played.
‘I think we are playing well until the boxes – defending and attacking. We need to be more aggressive in the boxes and more clinical.
‘The rest, I think we are improving. And comparing to last year, we’re in a better place.
‘But we need to win and we lost against Arsenal and [Manchester] City. Here losing, in the beginning, especially after last season, is a problem.
‘If you see the number of shots, the xG, all these things are good, but if you don’t score, or win games, it doesn’t matter.
‘Then, again, I said after the last game, the way we suffer the goals, we can avoid it. We are being naïve and we need to be more aggressive to win games.
‘We just need to maintain how we are playing, with improving in the opponent’s box and our box.’
