Ruben Amorim Man United future latest - club stance, next job claim, pressure verdict

Defeat to Manchester City in the derby has heaped further pressure on Ruben Amorim's position at Manchester United. United have secured just one victory from their opening four Premier League fixtures this campaign and currently languish in 14th place in the table, merely a point above the drop zone.

Their displays, meanwhile, have faced mounting scrutiny. Next up is a showdown with Chelsea, and barely a month into the campaign, United are already looking for a new spark to kick-start their season

With that in mind, here is a look at the latest speculation surrounding the Portuguese manager's future at Old Trafford.

READ MORE: Ruben Amorim's Man Utd escape route emerges as close friend insists 'he will be coach'

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What Amorim has said

After the loss to local rivals, City, Amorim maintained he would not alter his formation. "It's not a record that you should have in Manchester United," he said in his post-match press conference.

"There are a lot of things that you have no idea what happened during these months, but I accept that. But I'm not going to change. When I want to change my philosophy, I will change.

"If not, you have to change the man. So, we'll talk about that every game, every game that we lose. 'I don't believe in that, in the system', or whatever. So, I play my way and I'm going to play my way until I want to change."

Amorim added: "My message is that I'm going to give everything. I will do everything, always thinking about what is best for the club. That was always the same message. And then, it's not my decision, the rest. So, until I'm here, I will do my best. I really want to win games, so I'm suffering more than them."

Amorim 'eyed up' by Portuguese heavyweights

Back in Portugal, Amorim is widely viewed as one of football's brightest coaching talents, having transformed Sporting Clube de Portugal's fortunes in Europe and broken their Liga Portugal title curse spanning nearly 20 years before taking over from Erik ten Hag at United. Now, Sporting's bitter rivals Benfica are said to be monitoring his predicament at Old Trafford closely.

Benfica are preparing for presidential elections next month, with candidate Joao Noronha Lopes allegedly already including Amorim among his managerial targets. Portuguese publication A Bola suggests Lopes and former Portugal striker Nuno Gomes, who is standing for vice-president, attended the Etihad Stadium on Sunday with this in mind.

The newspaper reports that Gomes faced questions about Amorim potentially becoming Benfica's next boss during campaigning in Evora, with the former international hinting it could happen. A Bola also reveals that Noronha Lopes has admitted preparing a deal for Manchester City ace Bernardo Silva as he bids to lure him back to Estadio da Luz.

Noronha Lopes and Gomes faced questioning about the latest speculation upon their return to Lisbon. Noronha Lopes revealed: "We went to Manchester to watch the derby, and when we are together, we take the time to have meetings and prepare the future of Benfica.

"We didn't meet up with Bernardo Silva or Ruben Amorim after the game. I want to bring to Benfica a winning culture, which has talent, dedication and people who know how to win."

When pressed on whether he'd want to see Amorim as Benfica boss in the coming months, he responded: "Ruben is under contract with Manchester United and I won't comment on that."

Meanwhile, Gomes rejected suggestions that their Manchester trip was connected to the United chief. "I don't want to speak about that, I'm a friend of Ruben Amorim, and he has a contract with Manchester United," he said

"We watched the game, Joao [Noronha Lopes] is a passionate football fan and I enjoyed this experience with him."

This wasn't his first encounter with Amorim questions. Last weekend, he declared: "I can't answer that question at the moment but I'm sure that Amorim will be the manager of Benfica, one day."

Man United stance

On Monday, the Manchester Evening News revealed that the club hierarchy remains supportive of Amorim despite United's poorest campaign start in 33 years. A source close to Amorim acknowledges it is 'incredible' that his role isn't under serious threat despite 16 losses in the 31 league fixtures. Amorim, 40, remains tied to United until 2027.

Gary Neville verdict

United legend turned pundit Gary Neville has confessed he's 'concerned' about the club's prospects over the coming weeks as mounting pressure builds on Amorim. "Ruben Amorim is going to come under big pressure, he's going to come under big pressure, Manchester United are 14th in the league," he said. "

"It's only a few games in, it's four games in, but next week, if Manchester United lose and they go and they go to 15th or 16th and it's five games in, before you know it we're in October and Manchester United are in the bottom half of the table and that's where they couldn't be, having spent £200 million, with him having a pre-season.

"They might be seventh, eighth, ninth, they could be in those types of positions, but they can't be in the bottom half of the table, so there's got to be a turnaround pretty quickly, and the manager's idea has got to land very quickly with the players. I'm not saying here today that there's any suggestion that the players have downed tools on him, they've not, but they're struggling a little bit, they're struggling, they're struggling against Burnley at home, they're struggling against Fulham away in large parts, they're struggling at Grimsby, they struggled here today. They're struggling with it, they're struggling to find rhythm, to find tempo, to find performance levels.

"I was really heartened by the first game of the season against Arsenal. I thought it was a really good performance, but maybe that was that they'd had a good pre-season. Maybe now Cunha gets injured, Mount gets injured, the old wounds are starting to open up, and I'm worried. I'm worried about the manager, worried about what's going to happen in this next few weeks. I don't think it's a time for panic, but I've seen this before. We've seen this film."

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