Ruben Amorim pulled no punches after the subject of Anthony Elanga’s departure from Manchester United was brought up in his post-match media duties.
Elanga netted the winner against his former club on Tuesday night as high-flying Nottingham Forest took a giant step towards Champions League qualification with a hard-fought 1-0 win.
The 22-year-old, who joined Forest from United in 2023 for a reported £15 million, has been in fine form for Nuno Espírito Santo’s side this season, notching seven goals and eight assists in the league.
In fact, the Swede has 28 goal contributions in his two season spell with Forest – a record that surpasses any wide player who has played at Old Trafford in that time.
After the full-time whistle, Amorim was pressed on whether his side were wrong to let the winger leave when they did – and he didn’t hold back in his post-match press conference.
“We are talking about a lot of players who were at Manchester United who are doing right, but they had the chance here. At United, you don’t have the time. I will not have the time. We have to get it right fast,” he said.
“They were here and here the pressure is too big sometimes. Sometimes you don’t have time and you should have time for these kids to develop.”
Amorim added: “For that you need a strong base. If you don’t have it, we are not going to help our kids. They had their chances and sometimes the pressure playing for Manchester United is really big.”
One thing is for sure; Elanga has no regrets about leaving his boyhood club for a fresh start.
The winger played a bit-part role throughout his time at Old Trafford, making just 55 appearances following his senior debut in May 2021.
“I made the right decision, 100%,” he told The Athletic last year. “I have not really spoken about this, but at the time at United, I was very young and I was coming into a team that was struggling.
“Yes, there was the thought that ‘I am playing for Manchester United’. But I also never felt as though I was improving. I was playing for the sake of playing when I did get the odd opportunity off the bench.”
“Coming to Forest was so big for me because suddenly I was regularly playing 90 minutes, while having the opportunity to improve,” Elanga added. “When I played, I felt like I had purpose; like I was playing and improving in the process. That was the biggest change for me.
“I feel as though I know the league inside-out now, because I have had the chance to learn. I have no regrets, because I am enjoying playing fantastic football with this team. We are in a really good place at the moment.”
Elanga ran the length of the pitch before firing past Andre Onana on Tuesday night. Image credit: Getty
Ralf Rangnick, who took charge of United on an interim basis for the second half of the 2021/22 season following Ole Gunnar Solskjaer‘s departure, stopped Ealnga from leaving United on loan.
Elanga impressed the German coach, who said: “I must say from the very first day from my first training session, he showed up. l had heard his name before and I was in my hotel room watching videos of him on YouTube, I thought this boy was really good.
“He was almost on his way out on loan, I told him you will not go out on loan, you will say here. He has developed in training.”
On Tuesday night, United fell to their 13th Premier League defeat of the season. They currently sit 13th in the league, 33 points behind leaders Liverpool.
