Manchester United ‘persecutes’ Ruben Amorim: “I don’t know where that came from...”

Tyrell Malacia gave an extensive interview to the British television station BBC Sport, this Saturday, in which he ‘uplifted the veil’ on the way he was put to training on the edge of Manchester United’s main squad in the summer of 2025, along with Marcus Rashford, Jadon Sancho, Alejandro Garnacho and Antony, who also did not enter the plans of the then coach, the Portuguese Ruben Amorim.

“ I don't want to talk about it too much, but certain things happened in my recovery. Ruben arrived when I had just returned from my injury. He gave me a couple of games, but I was back after a year and a half. Imagine not playing for a year and a half and have to adapt to everything, especially in the best championship in the world”, he said.

“ Playing at such a big club takes time. As a player, you have to understand that if you play in a big club like Manchester United, you don’t have time,” he added. A rather happy loan to the PSV followed, in which he played only 12 matches (without any goal or assistance in the middle), before returning to Old Trafford.

“ Even then, I wasn't 100% yet, but it was good for me to have game time and adapt to the game. After this period of six months, I came back in the summer, and thought ‘OK, now, it will happen, I will have my fair opportunity’, confessed. I hope that it has not, however, come true and has instead been ‘demoted’ to the sub-21 team.

“ I don't know where that came from. I don't know if it was Ruben, someone higher or whatever, but I never said anything about it. I just kept working and doing my thing, even though it was hard sometimes to train in a group of five. At one point, Marcus, Garnacho and even Antony left”, he recalled.

“ Then I was alone, training with the reserve team, and even with the sub-18 and below. It's complicated. Mentally, it's complicated. I could have said ‘OK, I’m not going to show up at practice’, but I thought ‘This will not help me’. That would be all the more reason for them to say “That’s why you’re with them or training alone,” he continued.

“ I just kept my head down and doing the job. I've been fit since I got back from my injury, but people don't know that. They thought ‘Why isn’t he playing?’ he added.

“ I won’t play, but they won’t let me out, so what’s the point of being here?”

It was then that, last summer, Tyrell Malacia had “a good talk” with Michael Carrick, and chose not to extend the contract he kept with Manchester United, instead following a trip to the United States, where he signed with FC Cincinnati a valid contract until June 2027, with another year of option.

“ Obviously, I wanted out. Then there were some injuries, so I couldn't leave because of the squad numbers. That was hard to accept. I thought ‘I won’t play, but they won’t let me out, so what’s the point of being here?’. Then he explained. In the end, everyone is there for themselves. I was there for myself, obviously, in the first place, and the team and the same coach”, reflected.

“ He needs to save his job or do his job well. Still, I don't regret anything. I had a great time in my first season, and the people who worked there, along with the players I met, were fantastic. So I really enjoyed my time”, he concluded.