Manchester United manager Ruben Amorim has responded to claims that the club made a mistake in selling Anthony Elanga to Nottingham Forest.
Elanga scored the only goal of the game during Nottingham Forest‘s 1-0 win over Manchester United on Tuesday night, getting revenge on his former side as Forest move closer to qualification for the Champions League.
The Swede came through the Manchester United youth team, joining the academy aged 12 before going on to make 55 appearances for the first team, scoring four goals in total.
Manchester United afforded Anthony Elanga a chance he failed to take, claims Ruben Amorim
Elanga became a key player when Ralf Rangnick arrived as interim manager during the 2021/22 season, but fell out of favour under Erik ten Hag and left Old Trafford in July 2023 for £15m. Still only 22, Elanga has become a key player for Nuno Espirito Santo at the City Ground and has caused some to question Manchester United’s decision to sell him in the first place.
For Ruben Amorim, though, selling Elanga doesn’t indicate poor decision-making from Manchester United. Speaking after the game, he highlighted that the winger didn’t perform consistently enough to justify his spot in the Red Devils squad.
“We are talking about a lot of front players for Manchester United that are doing right but they had the chance here,” Amorim said. “At Manchester United you don’t have the time. I will not have the time. We have to get it right fast.”
The Portuguese boss continued when the loan departures of Marcus Rashford, Jadon Sancho and Antony, all players who are enjoying time away from Old Trafford, were raised, suggesting the pressure is completely different than at other clubs.
“You are not talking about players that didn’t play for Manchester United,” Amorim said. “They were here playing for Manchester United.
“In here the pressure is too big sometimes and sometimes you don’t get time and you should have time for these kids to develop. But for that you need a strong base to support all these kids and if you don’t have strong base we are not going to help our kids.
“They had their chances and sometimes football is like that and the pressure of playing for Manchester United is really big.”
In FourFourTwo‘s view, Amorim is somewhat justified in what he is saying – Elanga didn’t produce consistently enough for Manchester United so didn’t earn his place at the club. Likewise, the scrutiny players come under is a lot more intense than at other places, which some players are able to thrive under while others want to enjoy a less stressful environment.
