Amorim faces a challenging rebuild at Red Devils

MANCHESTER United manager Ruben Amorim is running out of excuses as he braces for a rebuild he hopes will result in a squad capable of delivering the success he enjoyed playing with his preferred formation at Sporting CP.

- ROWAN CALLAGHAN

United have lurched from one disaster to the next under the Portuguese manager, who led them to a dismal 15th-place finish in the league.

He even threatened to walk away if the United hierarchy wanted him to go, after the club lost last week’s Europa League final against Tottenham — and with it, the opportunity to sneak into the Champions League through the back door. He later backtracked.

At his pre-match press conference on Saturday, Amorim insisted that this season's mistakes would not be repeated next term.

“In this moment, I am really glad we arrived six months before we started a new season,” said the United boss.

“I think we will avoid a lot of mistakes in the next season. Now is the time we can use all that suffering to change things in the summer.”

The response from the club had been equally drastic in the aftermath of the Europa League hammer blow in Bilbao.

Reports from the UK claimed that all the players in the squad were up for sale.