AMORIM'S JOB SAFE AT UNITED: RATCLIFFE

Co-owner says football ‘not overnight’, will let manager see out his three-year contract

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Manchester United’s manager Ruben Amorim will be given the full three years of his contract to prove himself and turn the club into the most profitable in the world, co-owner Jim Ratcliffe said on Oct 8.

Amorim was Ratcliffe’s choice to replace Erik ten Hag last November but the Portuguese has struggled to turn around the club’s flagging fortunes, winning only 10 of his 34 English Premier League matches in charge.

United endured their worst topflight finish last season since they were relegated in 1973-74, placing 15th, and they missed out on Europe after being beaten by Tottenham Hotspur in the Europa League final.

But Ratcliffe has issued his strongest statement of support for Amorim yet, comparing the situation to when Alex Ferguson struggled in the early years of his reign before becoming the greatest manager in the club’s history.

“I remember the clamouring for Alex Ferguson to be fired in his first two years,” Ratcliffe, who owns 30 per cent of the club and controls the football side of the business, told The Times of London’s podcast The Business.

“You look at (Mikel) Arteta at Arsenal. He had a miserable time for the first couple of years.