Manchester United: Ruben Amorim reveals attempts to delay AFCON exits for key trio | OneFootball

Resurgent Red Devils set to be hit hard by departures for Africa Cup of Nations in Morocco next month

Manchester United boss Ruben Amorim hopes to keep hold of his players involved in the Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) until two weeks before the start of the tournament.

If those rules are to be followed, that would mean Ivory Coast winger Amad, Cameroon forward Mbeumo and Morocco wing-back Mazraoui all leaving before United’s trip to Wolves in the Premier League on December 8.

Amorim is understandably keen to keep hold of three of his most important players during a hectic winter schedule, but said that while discussions were taking place, he would be respectful of the respective federations’ decisions.

“We have rules when we have to release players, we will see,” Amorim said. “We are doing our job trying to maintain the players a little longer, but it is not in our hands.

“We will try to do everything to protect the club, protect the players and protect the national team.

“I think they will leave two weeks before the start so we will try to get something with the federations, but we will need to respect their wills in this case.”

United are set to be depleted, particularly in attack, as a result of AFCON, leaving Amorim to contend with the possibility of not being able to select Amad, Mbeumo or Mazraoui for over a month.

The United boss, though, has said that the trio’s absence could open up opportunities for some of the club’s academy players to make a case for first-team minutes.

“It is a concern but we already knew,” Amorim added. “There is an opportunity for other players. We have also the Under-21s. We need to send a message in that time so we will see.

Amorim is looking to mark a year in charge of United by extending his side’s unbeaten run to six games at home to Everton on Monday night.

It had been a disastrous opening 12 months for the former Sporting head coach, with United recording their lowest-ever Premier League finish under him last season, but there have been signs of improvement in recent weeks.

Sitting one point outside the Champions League places heading into the weekend, Amorim is looking for his resurgent team to now become more dominant.

“It was everything going really fast,” the Portuguese reflected on his first year at Old Trafford. “The first thinking was the environment was different in the Premier League, and I was excited with that.

“Right away, I knew that we would struggle with some things, but there was a feeling that yes, it was the best league and best club in the world. But at the same time, it was a big job and it is going to take a lot of work.

“We are showing that [improvements], but the important thing is that it doesn't matter what we did in the recent games, we cannot forget that we still started in that point and suffered a lot last year, and we have to take that into account.

“We have to play every game like it is the last one or the first one. But if you ask me, I expect a team with more control and more dominance, playing better football and the most important thing is that we are more competitive in every way.”