Revealed: Man Utd sacked Ruben Amorim after Portuguese tactician 'blew up' in meeting with director of football Jason Wilcox

Another was aimed in the direction of United’s board after seeing the Red Devils held by their old adversaries in West Yorkshire. Amorim questioned the support that he had been receiving at boardroom level and stated how he wanted to be granted freedom to work as a “manager” rather than a “head coach”.

The 40-year-old told reporters, in an explosive end to his reign: “I came here to be the manager of Manchester United, not to be the coach of Manchester United. That is clear. I know that my name is not [Thomas] Tuchel, is not [Antonio] Conte, is not [Jose] Mourinho, but I’m the manager of Manchester United.

“It’s going to be like this for 18 months or when the board decided to change. That was my point. I want to finish with that. I’m not going to quit. I will do my job until other guy is coming here to replace me.

“I just want to say that I’m going to be the manager of this team, not just the coach. I was really clear on that. That is going to finish in 18 months, and then everyone is going to move on.

“That was the deal. That is my job, not to be a coach. If people cannot handle the Gary Nevilles and the criticises of everything, we need to change the club. No, no guys, I would say that I came here to be the manager of Manchester United, not to be the coach. Every department, the scouting department, the sport director needs to do their job. I will do mine for 18 months and then we move on. Thank you, guys.”

Amorim was not granted 18 months, with the axe falling on his tenure less than 24 hours after those words were uttered. He was, according to The Telegraph, already a dead man walking by that point.

They claim that Amorim’s position had become “unsustainable”. It is claimed that Wilcox intended for an in-house meeting "to be a positive look at the evolution of the team but when the system was raised – Amorim’s go-to 3-4-3 formation – the Portuguese coach blew up”.

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Questions were asked of that system throughout a forgettable 14-month reign for Amorim at Old Trafford. He wanted to bring stability and “direction” to United, but ended up causing confusion as players struggled to deliver on his demands and transfer windows passed without suitable additions being made.

The Red Devils spent big in the summer of 2025 on players that they believe can fill a “range of positions” in different tactical approaches. Amorim did tinker with his plans slightly in meetings with Newcastle and Wolves, but reverted back to type when the going got tough.

With that stubborn approach being factored into the equation, it is reported that Amorim’s “angry reaction to Wilcox’s observations indicated to the club hierarchy that he had taken United as far as he could”.

Chief executive Omar Berrada was the man to make the final call on Amorim. He was informed of that decision during a meeting that was also attended by Wilcox on Monday morning - with bags then being packed.

According to The Sun, sources at Man Utd believe Amorim wanted to leave the club and was self-sabotaging in a bid to engineer an Old Trafford exit.

United have promoted Under-18s boss Darren Fletcher, a man who knows all about the club from his playing days, into a caretaker role with the first-team at Old Trafford. He will be calling the shots when the Red Devils travel to Burnley for a Premier League fixture on Wednesday.

It is claimed that United want an interim appointment to take them through to the end of the 2025-26 campaign. Fletcher is not considered to be a candidate for that post.

A long-term successor to Amorim will be lined up for the summer, with it being claimed that highly-rated Austrian tactician Oliver Glasner - who is seeing his contract at Crystal Palace run down - is the preferred option of United’s board.