Why Ruben Amorim didn't meet Ruud van Nistelrooy face-to-face to deliver Man Utd axe

opted not to meet in person before opting to exclude him from his first team staff at .

Amorim is preparing to start work at Old Trafford after to kick off his reign - starting with a trip to Ipswich Town on November 24 - but he has had to make some tough calls on who will make up his inner circle.

The former Sporting Lisbon coach , who has deputised for the last four matches since Erik ten Hag was sacked following a woeful start to the season.

The Dutchman rejuvenated the team and led them to three wins from those four games, but has now departed the club after Amorim opted not to include the legendary ex-striker in his coaching set-up.

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have reported that if Amorim did hold any talks with Van Nistelrooy before taking charge, he did not do so face-to-face. The report adds that United left the decision on Van Nistelrooy's future up to Amorim instead of being "swept up by sentimentality", with the 39-year-old eager to put his stamp on the club with his own staff.

It always looked "unlikely" that Van Nistelrooy would continue on under Amorim after being seen shaking hands with senior United officials following the club's 3-0 win over City.

Van Nistelrooy is believed to have left United's training ground at around midday, with Amorim only arriving a few hours after - making it impossible for the pair to have spoken.

Amorim arrived in Manchester at around 1.45pm with his new coaching staff Carlos Fernandes, Adelio Candido, Paulo Barreira, Emanuel Ferro, and Jorge Vital before being given a tour of United's Carrington training ground.

He cannot officially begin working until his visa is approved - but United do not anticipate this to be an issue and hope it will be resolved in a matter of days.

Speaking about the scale of the challenge he is facing at United, Amorim said: "I feel ready for the new challenge. I'm not naive, I know it's going to be very different - very difficult. I'm not under any illusions. But it's what it has to be.

"I'm at peace now, I can focus on my new job and I'm looking forward to starting. I know it will be difficult to reproduce what I have here anywhere else, but there are other places with different exposure and pressure."

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