Ruben Amorim defends Man United decision to sell Anthony Elanga

Ruben Amorim has dismissed claims that Manchester United made a mistake by selling Anthony Elanga, while also defending his decisions to loan out Marcus Rashford and Antony.

United sold Elanga to Nottingham Forest in 2023, and on Tuesday night, the Swedish forward scored the winner against his former club.

Despite Elanga’s impressive performances for the Tricky Trees, Amorim, the United head coach, stated that players like Elanga “had their chance” at Old Trafford.

The Portuguese manager also stood by his decisions to loan out Rashford to Aston Villa and Antony to Real Betis, even as both players have found success and are among the goals for their temporary clubs.

When asked if it was a mistake to sell Elanga after United’s 1-0 loss at Forest, Amorim replied: “We are talking about a lot of front players for Manchester United that are doing right but they had the chance here.

“At Manchester United you don’t have the time. I will not have the time. We have to get it right fast.”

Elanga has 28 goal contributions in his two seasons at Forest

Regarding United loaning out Rashford, Antony, and Jadon Sancho, Amorim added: “You are not talking about players that didn’t play for Manchester United. 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.”

Man United return to Premier League action on Sunday, hosting rivals Manchester City, where they will be aiming for three points to begin their climb back toward the top half of the table.