Ruben Amorim hits instant visa problem as day one as new Man Utd boss suffers immediate issue

Manchester United have hit an unexpected issue with the appointment of Ruben Amorim after it emerged the Portuguese coach had not yet been granted his visa – but why the Red Devils are not worried and when their manager will be able to officially start work have come to light.

Sir Jim Ratcliffe and Co have chosen Amorim as the successor to Erik ten Hag, who was sacked with Manchester United way down in 14th place in the Premier League. And while interim boss Ruud van Nistelrooy has steadied the ship with three wins in four games across all competitions, the Red Devils still find themselves with huge strides to make both domestically and in the Europa League.

Amorim, by contrast, has signed off from Sporting Lisbon with 11 straight wins in the Primeira Liga, with their 4-2 win at Braga on Sunday his last game in charge. He leaves them having won a maximum 33 points from 33 available.

United have paid the Primeira Liga champions €11m (£9.1m, $11.75m) compensation to appoint the 39-year-old, a figure that includes an additional €1m to cover the fact he will not be working the full 30-day notice period that exists in his deal in the Portuguese capital.

Amorim is due to board a flight to Manchester on Monday morning and is expected at Carrington by lunchtime or early afternoon to begin work with the Red Devils.

However, multiple sources now report United are yet to secure a visa from the UK Government to allow Amorim to begin his job and start working with his players.

Nonetheless, it’s understood that United are not expecting any long-term issues with the paperwork with the visa now just a question of time and likely to be granted some time this week.

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When will Amorim get his visa and what has been said on Man Utd issues?

United will again contact the Home Office to try and push that through the application and there is an expectancy that will arrive in the coming days.

When that permit arrives, the 39-year-old will be able to both take training and officially get to work at their Carrington training base.

Samuel Luckhurst of the Manchester Evening News has commented: “Any potential delay is unlikely to be problematic as Amorim will not conduct a full team training session until next week when United’s international players start to return.”

He added: “Several senior players will be immediately available to Amorim. Marcus Rashford, Kobbie Mainoo, Harry Maguire, Casemiro, Amad, Mason Mount, Antony and the fit-again Leny Yoro and Luke Shaw could be among the first players to meet Amorim.”

Luckhurst also notes that the Red Devils have not scheduled an introductory press conference with Amorim and will only announce when he can face the media once his work permit issues are resolved.

However, there is an expectancy that will either be scheduled at the back end of this week or perhaps even early next.

Bruno Fernandes, Diogo Dalot, Lisandro Martinez, Alejandro Garnacho, Christian Eriksen, Rasmus Hojlund, Matthijs de Ligt, Joshua Zirkzee, Noussair Mazraoui, Victor Lindelof, Manuel Ugarte, Andre Onana and Altay Bayindir are all away with their respective national sides this week so will not begin life under their new coach until they return to the northwest at the back end of next week anyway.

The new manager’s first match in charge is against Ipswich Town at Portman Road on Sunday November 24.

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United, meanwhile, are reported to have made an approach for Bayer Leverkusen defender Jonathan Tah.

The Germany international can leave as a free agent in 2025 and his agent has revealed the player plans to join ‘a big club’.

Now it’s claimed the Red Devils are now one of two top sides battling for his signature and with the 28-year-old free to negotiate terms with an overseas side from January 1.

Elsewhere, Amorim’s chances of reuniting with Sporting striker Viktor Gyokeres in January have been rated by Fabrizio Romano with the journalist revealing the “behind the scenes work” being done into his signature.

And finally, with Amorim due to start work this week one of his first tasks will be to evaluate the players available to him and whom he sees as having a long-term future at Old Trafford.

Down the line, and across the next few transfer windows, the Portuguese has expected to make several changes and now one pundit has claimed that “only one player will be safe” going forwards.

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