Ruben Amorim is ready to bring back his ‘Bomb Squad’ if Manchester United cannot sell them at the right price this summer.
Alejandro Garnacho, Jadon Sancho, Antony and Tyrell Malacia have been left to train at Carrington while United are on tour in the US, while Marcus Rashford has secured a loan move to Barcelona.
United are keen to offload the other four players to fund new signings, but Amorim insists that the price must be right for chief executive Omar Berrada and director of football Jason Wilcox otherwise he is prepared to re-integrate them into the squad.
‘We are just allowing these players to have time to think and to decide,’ he said. ‘If we reach a point where they have to join the team, they will join the team because they are our players.
‘I know for a fact Jason, Omar and the club have a number for these players. If they don’t reach that, they will be Manchester United players, no doubt about that. I understand the clubs are waiting for the last minute, but they can have a surprise.
‘I’m ready to receive the players. They have more competition (for places at United). If you want to play in the World Cup next year you need to play, so I’m really happy with that because I have more options. If they have to fight each other to play, for me it’s perfect.’
Ruben Amorim is ready to bring his bomb squad – including Antony (left) and Alejandro Garnacho (right) – back into the fold if they are not sold
The four players, also including Tyrell Malacia (pictured) and Jadon Sancho have been left behind from United’s pre-season tour
Amorim said of the players that he is ‘allowing the players to have time to think and to decide’
Asked about the decision to leave four players behind, Amorim said that it was important to have a ‘healthy’ squad who appreciate what it means to be at United.
‘If you see the best teams in the world, you feel the bond between all the players. I think that is really important,’ he added.
‘Then I think we need to remind ourselves how special it is to be at Manchester United. It’s the best club in the world. It should be for everyone that is on the pitch with our club.
‘I really like that feeling. I really like to be in the group that is healthy. We are going to suffer and have problems. That feeling of bonding from everybody – from the staff, from the players, with the technical staff – is really important.
‘I think it can help us to win some games that we are not performing so well, but something happened because the spirit is positive.’
Amorim was joined by new £62.5million signing Matheus Cunha as he spoke at Soldier Field in Chicago. United have also signed Bryan Mbeumo to fill the other No.10 spot in his 3-4-2-1 system, but have yet to land a new striker.
Amorim insisted that he has options in attack and would be happy going into the season with the squad he has now.
He added: ‘I think our club, in the moment, need to be really careful when we sign a player. So if we have to start the season with this squad, I’m happy. Because all the players that are here want to be here, and that for me is the most important thing.
United are keen to offload the other four players to fund new signings in the ongoing window
Marcus Rashford was also put up for sale but has now joined Barcelona on loan for the season
‘With Bryan and Matheus, we are clearly a better team. They can play as a striker. I’m really pleased because they proved that the goals they have. They are really humble, that is really important.
‘The best thing is that they chose to be here. They had other options, Champions League options. And they read everything people say about our club in the moment, but they chose to be here and that is a key point for me.
‘They have other players that are fighting for that position. We have Josh (Zirkzee), we have Rasmus (Hojlund), so our focus is to improve the connection between them. I don’t know if the positions are there for them. They have to work.’
