David Beckham and Gary Neville on Ruben Amorim, Man Utd transfers and Sir Jim Ratcliffe

David Beckham has urged Manchester United to support Ruben Amorim in the transfer market as work continues to arrest their decline — but he wants the club to keep Bruno Fernandes and their best young talents.

Amorim has endured a difficult start to life at Old Trafford since replacing Erik ten Hag last November, with United sat 16th in the Premier League.

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While there is only one game left to improve that position, United could end the season with a trophy and Champions League qualification when they face Tottenham Hotspur in the Europa League final on Wednesday.

Despite the team’s domestic struggles, the fanbase seems largely to still favour Amorim and Beckham thinks the Portuguese head coach, 40, stands a good chance of transforming the 20-time English champions.

United have endured a tumultuous period following Sir Alex Ferguson’s retirement in 2013, appointing six permanent managers and spending huge amounts of money as part of the quest to recapture former glories.

There has also been off-field turbulence amid continued protests against the Glazer family, as well as Sir Jim Ratcliffe becoming a co-owner last year and overseeing major changes, including a mass redundancy operation.

“It has not been a great season and I think that’s being kind,” Beckham, a member of United’s ‘Class of 92’ generation under Ferguson, told The Athletic. “When there hasn’t been stability at the club, it shows.

“We were lucky to be part of the most stable club with the same manager, owner, fans and players there for many years. We know when you have stability within the club, you have success. Simple as that.

“I believe that we have a very good manager now. I believe that we have a lot of people who are trying to bring stability around the club. What our fans care about most, though, is what happens on the field and what is happening on the field, people are not liking — our fans are not liking.

“But the one thing is, our supporters turn up week after week. There are 74,000 fans in that stadium no matter what, no matter how we’re playing or who’s playing. The manager knows that, the manager understands that. It’s why I like Ruben and I think he has got a real opportunity here.

“He’s a young manager with success already under his belt (at Sporting CP, where he won three Portuguese titles) and great experience for his age. So I think he will make the changes that he needs to make.”

Beckham was part of United’s successful ‘Class of ’92’ (Steve Bardens/Mark Leech Sports Photography/Getty Images)

United have funds available to bolster Amorim’s squad — however their latest accounts paint a concerning picture and it is unclear how much room there will be to manoeuvre, especially until there are some exits.

There is no internal desire for one of them to be Fernandes, even if the midfielder’s form has seen him targeted by Saudi Pro League side Al Hilal. Kobbie Mainoo and Alejandro Garnacho have been linked with moves, too, in part owing to their ‘homegrown’ status, which would yield pure profit and help United’s compliance with financial rules

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“I think Ruben definitely needs to be backed in bringing in the players he wants but I actually don’t know how possible it is,” says Beckham, 50. “I don’t speak to Jim that often, only from time to time.

“Ruben needs to be backed as a manager to bring in his team and his philosophy; he’s trying that already but I think once he brings his team in and his players, then you’ll see something different.

“I’d like to think you wouldn’t have to sell your captain (Fernandes). He has been exceptional. We’ve all been critical at times of some United players — but when we needed someone to step up, he has done it.

“I also hate (the idea of) any young player who has grown up at United leaving the club. We shouldn’t be selling players purely for financial reasons.

“It should be what they are doing on the field and if they’re not performing, there’s always a chance — we all knew that, I knew that. If I wasn’t performing on the pitch, it didn’t matter what I’d done in the past or what I was going to do in the future; there was a good chance that I was either going to get left on the bench, or I was going to get sold.

“I’d like to think that Manchester United don’t sell players that have grown up at the club, understand and love the club. I don’t want to see players leave Manchester United if they care about United like I do.”

Amorim has faced scrutiny for staying loyal to a system that his group have encountered difficulty adapting to, often insisting he will not waver.

“A lot of managers have come in and said that but I think you just have to look back at one of the greatest managers to ever lead Manchester United and one of the greatest managers in football,” Beckham recalls.

“The manager (Ferguson) always knew when to change and when to adapt. He always knew he had another option to change the system, to change the players, to bring in new talent. He was the best at it.

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“So if he can do it, then at some point I’m sure if Ruben sees there’s an opportunity to change the system or change the way he plays, maybe he will have to do it. But I like the fact that he is like: ‘No, I’m going to stick with my system’. And that’s what I respect about him.”

On Ratcliffe’s controversial tenure so far, Beckham added: “I know Jim has come in and made some big decisions. Maybe people have been upset by that and the fans have been upset by some of the decisions.

“I can only speak of when Jim first came in and I liked the fact that he was a fan. I liked the fact that he came from around Manchester.

“But the decisions made, I prefer to stay out of because there are a lot of people I’ve known for a long time who are not at the club any more and that hurts. But it’s not a club I own, it’s a club I care about and I love.”

Gary Neville — Beckham’s long-term friend, team-mate and fellow director at Salford City — feels much of the upheaval was needed and that it is too early to know whether Ratcliffe is the right man for United.

“There’s no doubt that in the first 12 months of his ownership, there are two or three things he would have done differently,” Neville explains. “The reality is it’s such a big club, there is such a lot to do and there was so much wrong with it when he came in, I think he has got to be given some time to be able to develop a successful football club again.

“It hasn’t been successful at the levels that United would want, winning Premier League titles and Champions Leagues, for 10 years — so it is a transition period where the new ownership are building new foundations.

“I always say it takes three years, four years to be able to embed something and he’s only 12 months in, so we need to give him time.

“They’re very much in the embryonic stages of a stadium project, a training ground project and building a new team on the pitch. To say 12 months in whether it’s going to be a failure or success is too difficult.

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“There is two or three things that have not gone very well and been quite unpopular, but there are also massive changes that needed to occur.

“When you’re going into a club that basically has had sustained failure for 10 years and has recruited badly, you’re going to upset things along the way. You might make some decisions that ultimately are with a blunt tool, but the reality is change was required. It definitely was required.”

Ratcliffe has endured a turbulent tenure so far (Adrian Dennis/AFP via Getty Images)

Similarly, according to Neville, it is not yet possible to judge Amorim.

“What they need to do now is to create some stability,” says the 50-year-old. “There has been a lot of instability off the pitch in respect of the non-playing staff and there has been a lot of instability on the pitch with the changes of manager and changes to the squad. That has got to stop at some point and they’ve got to embed in Ruben’s team, let them develop.

“I think this time next year we’ll know a lot more, when we see whether Ruben can build a successful team. Christmas next year we’ll know a lot more, because I think Ruben needs to get that second transfer window.

“He needs a proper pre-season with the team to embed this system and this style of play. We’ll know a lot more in October, November, December when I’m sure they’ll be winning more matches than they are now.

“It needs a big overhaul in the summer. Five or six players minimum to be able to change the direction of how he wants to play. There’s at least two forwards, a central midfield player, definitely two wing backs and another centre-back. They need six players minimum.

“Ruben has been very good at identifying the players he wants out of the club; that’s really clear to everybody. The club’s job now is to get them out and get replacements in that he likes and wants in his team.”

Regarding the vital match against Tottenham, Neville concludes: “That game is making my stomach churn with its level of importance, to both clubs.

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“Not just from a silverware perspective, not just from a manager’s perspective, but also from a finance perspective; what it gives both clubs in terms of attracting players and the money that it will put into the clubs.

“It’s making me a little bit sick.”

(Top photo: Chris Brunskill Ltd/Getty Images)

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