Ruben Amorim's Cryptic Silence On United’s Budget Sparks Doubts: 'I Don't Want To Talk About That'

Ruben Amorim is usually many things in a press conference — frank, detailed, refreshingly honest. This week, he added a new one: wilfully evasive.

Asked to clarify a Christmas Eve remark about Manchester United’s transfer budget, Amorim flatly refused. Not once. Not twice. Repeatedly. And in doing so, he all but confirmed that something behind the scenes is very much off.

Back on December 24, Amorim openly admitted what many already suspected.

“If we have to play a perfect 3-4-3, we need to spend a lot of money and we need time,” he said. “I’m starting to understand that is not going to happen. So maybe I have to adapt.”

That “adaptation” arrived swiftly — and awkwardly. United switched to a back four to scrape past Newcastle 1-0 on Boxing Day,

before snapping straight back to the 3-4-3 for a limp 0-0 draw at home to Wolves four days later. The result didn’t just kill momentum; it reignited whispers about Amorim’s job security.

Fast-forward to this week, and Amorim was asked to explain himself. Why did he not know the recruitment situation when he took the job? Had something changed since then?

“I don’t want to talk about that, but you are very smart.”

Ruben Amorim want to focus on Leeds rather than talking about transfers

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“I don’t want to talk about that,” he replied to BBC Sport.

Pressed again? Same answer. No elaboration. No denial. No reassurance.

Then came the moment that said more than any tactical breakdown ever could. As the club’s media officer attempted to move things along, Amorim cut in with a pointed aside to the journalist who dared ask the question.

“But you are very smart, so…”

Message received.

United had already pulled the plug on a £65 million move for Antoine Semenyo the day before Amorim’s original comments, quietly accepting it was going nowhere. Publicly, the club insisted there was a plan. Privately, the manager now seems less convinced.

Nothing has been officially confirmed. No budget has been publicly slashed. No promises have been withdrawn. And yet Amorim’s sudden reluctance to speak is impossible to ignore.

Amorim may not want to talk right now. But his silence? It’s doing plenty of talking for him.