The cost-cutting under Manchester United’s new co-owners Ineos has created plenty of negativity around Old Trafford, but it has never backfired so spectacularly as the budget flight to Barcelona that blew the lid off their plans to sack Erik ten Hag and hold secret talks with potential replacements.
Confidential exclusively revealed last week that chief executive Omar Berrada had led a four-man delegation – also understood to include sporting director Dan Ashworth and technical director Jason Wilcox – to the Catalan capital to speak to representatives of former Barca boss Xavi Hernandez, and that Ruben Amorim was another leading contender.
Now we can disclose that the United executives were spotted because they flew on Ryanair from Manchester rather than booking a private jet similar to the one laid on at short notice for Ten Hag after he was sacked on Monday morning.
The cat was out of the bag and although Xavi was reluctant to take the job before the start of next season, Amorim has been more flexible and will replace Ten Hag who must have known he was a dead man walking once United’s secret mission unravelled.
It still didn’t stop United from trying to save money on flights again by asking Manchester City if Kobbie Mainoo and Alejandro Garnacho could get a lift on their jet to the Ballon d’Or awards in Paris on Monday night only to be told that the plane was full.
Utd can’t be City suckers again
There is a strong suspicion that United moved for Amorim because Berrada has inside knowledge of Manchester City’s plans to appoint the Sporting Lisbon coach as Pep Guardiola’s replacement.
Berrada joined United as chief executive in the summer after 13 years at City, who have already announced that Hugo Viana, Amorim’s director of football at Sporting, will take over the same role from Txiki Begiristain at the Etihad next season.
If Guardiola doesn’t extend his contract, City were hoping to replicate his prolific partnership with Begiristain by reuniting Amorim and Viana.
However, Berrada will also be aware that United’s attempt to gazump their neighbours has not always worked out well in recent years.
United were panicked into agreeing a deal worth £35m with Arsenal by exchanging Henrikh Mkhitaryan for Alex Sanchez in January 2018 even though he would have been a free agent four months later. City had a strong interest in Sanchez but wouldn’t be drawn into paying the fee or making him their highest-paid player.
It was a similar situation with Fred, who moved to Old Trafford for £52m from Shakhtar Donetsk after United swooped to sign him from under City’s noses, and Harry Maguire who cost £80m – a world record for a defender.
And who could forget Jorge Mendes’ masterstroke by persuading United to bring Cristiano Ronaldo back to Old Trafford from Juventus on a salary in excess of £500,000-a-week on the basis that they couldn’t stomach the thought of him joining City.
If United do indeed appoint Amorim ahead of their rivals, they can only hope it works out better this time.
Ruben has history with the Reds
At least Amorim will be familiar with his surroundings if he lands the United job.
The 39-year-old spent a week observing his Portuguese compatriot Jose Mourinho at Carrington and Old Trafford in 2017 when Mourinho was United boss and Amorim was starting out in coaching.
Having terminated his contract at Benfica and retired as a player in April 2017, Amorim began working towards his coaching badges and also did a course in psychomotor, studying the actions and movements in the human body. He started out as a coach at third-tier Casa Pia before finding success at Braga and Sporting.
Amorim’s time under Mourinho was said to include a class about how United beat Ajax in the 2017 Europa League final. That was before Ten Hag took over the Dutch club – later going on to record a thumping 5-1 win away to Amorim’s Sporting Lisbon in the Champions League in September 2021.
Ten Hag’s cup half empty
Ten Hag leaned too heavily on his twin successes in domestic cup competitions, and he was at it again in what proved to be his final press conference.
Hardly surprising given that he was speaking ahead of Wednesday night’s Carabao Cup fourth round tie against Leicester at Old Trafford – a five-minute Q&A session with journalists that took place following his after-match press interviews at West Ham on Sunday.
But the Dutchman never fully appreciated that winning the FA Cup and Carabao Cup in two-and-a-half seasons at a club as big as Manchester United was no protection when the team languished in 14th place in the Premier League.
‘Definitely. It’s about trophies,’ said Ten Hag. ‘I don’t want to go in this debate again, but I think it’s the truth. There are not so many trophies you can win, and it you win a trophy in top football that is the most important because that is what the fans expect and we expect. We have five opportunities and one we missed, that was the Community Shield, but we have still have four to go.’
Sadly for Ten Hag, he had run out of chances.
Ruud gets his lead role
Ruud van Nistelrooy will be caretaker manager for the cup tie against Leicester, and it always felt as though the former Old Trafford favourite gave United a Plan B if they decided to sack Ten Hag.
Certainly the body language between the two men did not seem as natural as Ten Hag’s relationship with his previous assistants Mitchell van der Gaag and Steve McClaren.
It has also been noted since Van Nistelrooy returned to the club in the summer – having turned down a number of managerial jobs – that he had adopted a more high-profile presence on the touchline than Van der Gaag, McClaren and Rene Hake, the club’s other new No.2.
In Istanbul on Thursday, Van Nistelrooy stayed out longer than Ten Hag and the players to milk the applause of travelling fans who sang his name following the Europa League draw against Fenerbahce. The 48-year-old will certainly be centre-stage on Wednesday night, even if his stay in the United hot-seat is shortlived.
Fans treated like animals
United fans were left fuming at being ‘treated like animals’ after the final whistle in Istanbul.
Supporters who spoke to Confidential raged at being kept inside Fenerbahce’s stadium beyond 1.30am, and then left with limited options to get back to their accommodation before early flights home.
Buses had been laid on but they were starting and ending over in the Besiktas area of the city, while many fans had based themselves in the Kadikoy district. With a lack of taxis, it meant that United fans had to walk and some didn’t get back to hotels until after 2am.
‘I’m going to be asking the club for a European credit as an apology,’ one fan, who asked not to be named, told Confidential. ‘It was a joke how we were treated.’
Stalwarts go in Carrington shake-up
Ten Hag isn’t the only departure from United this week. Confidential understands that loans manager Les Parry and academy player liaison officer Dave Bushell are the latest long-serving members of staff to leave as part of a shake-up at Carrington.
Parry has been at United since January 2013, having worked as a physio at Accrington Stanley and Tranmere Rovers where he was also appointed manager in the wake of John Barnes’ departure.
His most recent role was overseeing United’s players out on loan, travelling around the country and abroad as well as attending the Transfer Room global conferences to discuss player trades. He was known for keeping the young players grounded with his candour.
Bushell has been at United since January 1995 in a number of roles, and was presented with the Eamonn Dolan award by Sir Alex Ferguson at Old Trafford last year in recognition of outstanding contributions to youth coaching.
Liverpool land Utd physio
Head physio Robin Sadler may have been surplus to requirements at United, but he has found a new home at rivals Liverpool.
Sadler left United in January as part of an overhaul of the medical department led by head of sports medicine Gary O’Driscoll who appointed his former Arsenal physio Jordan Reece.
Sadler had been at United for three years – working under Erik ten Hag, Ralf Rangnick and Ole Gunnar Solskjaer – following spells with Manchester City and Derby.
Now Liverpool are having a reshuffle of their own under club doctor Jonathan Power and Sadler will be part of the new set-up.
He said: ‘There are some excellent sports medicine practitioners here at Liverpool. It’s exciting to work here and to see what we can try to achieve together. My role is primarily to work and support performance to enable players to fulfil their potential both in training and out on the pitch on a matchday.’
Chido’s blazing a trail
United are eager to keep a lid on the hype surrounding Chido Obi-Martin, but it may well be too late for that.
The youngster has been wowing teammates and coaches with his skill level and he made light work of Nottingham Forest, scoring a 16-minute hat-trick on his full debut for the Under-18s.
Confidential understands that United are wary of adding to the already huge amounts of pressure on his shoulders, particularly at a time where the first team are struggling badly for goals.
For now, he is expected to continue learning and playing with Adam Lawrence’s U18s, with no immediate urge to fast track the 16-year-old through the ranks.
Jungle no place for Savage
Robbie Savage, part of the famed Class of ‘92 before finding wider success elsewhere, has rejected an offer to be the first former Manchester United player to take part in I'm a Celebrity.
Savage was seriously temped by a lucrative opportunity to enter the jungle but instead when the series kicks off in Australia next month, he will spend cold nights concentrating on his day job of managing Macclesfield Town.
Though no man with a United connection has appeared in the hit TV show, George Best’s wife Alex appeared in series three, while Colleen Rooney is strong tipped to be in this year’s line-up.
Among the footballers to have previously taken part are David Ginola and Ian Wright, while manager Harry Redknapp was crowned king of the jungle in 2018.
