Mikel Arteta sends warning to Ruben Amorim over his new ‘unpredictable’ job… and admits the manager’s ‘fingertips’ are already all over Man United ahead of his maiden trip to face Arsenal at the Emirates

Mikel Arteta believes you can already see Ruben Amorim’s ‘fingerprints’ on Manchester United but warned the new man at Old Trafford to be ready for the rollercoaster of Premier League management.

Amorim has been at the helm at United for just three games, replacing the sacked Erik ten Hag, and has already led the side to victory over Bodo/Glimt and a thumping win against Everton.

The Portuguese boss, who won two league titles at Sporting Lisbon, faces his toughest test yet when he takes United to the Emirates Stadium in the Premier League on Wednesday night.

Arteta, though, has been impressed with that he’s seen so far.

‘You can see his fingerprints in what he wants to do straight away,’ said Arteta. ‘He has been very clear, he has been very successful. What he did with Sporting was remarkable, what he achieved there after so many years, especially the way he did it and the way his teams have been playing.

‘He brings energy to a new club, new ideas, something positive but have to focus on what we need to do.’

The new Manchester United manager was drafted in from Sporting CP to turn around the club’s fortunes this season

Red Devils will head to the Emirates on the heels of thumping win against Everton on Sunday

Arteta knows what it’s like to take over a club with massive ambition as a young manager. He was 37 when he took the reins at the Emirates in December 2019 and, like 39-year-old Amorim faces at United, had to deal with overhauling a squad full of difficult characters.

‘How unpredictable this job is,’ said Arteta, when asked what early lessons he took from the job. ‘I jumped into a new job in the middle of the season in very special circumstances socially.

‘Then we got hit by COVID. You can plan whatever you want but football brings different things and you have to deal with it. Take it as it comes and deal with it.’

United sit ninth but are only six points behind Arsenal in second and Arteta feels if Amorim can pick up some momentum, there’s nothing to say they can’t fire themselves into Champions League, or even title, contention.

‘We are still very early in the season, any team that has the capacity to put five or six wins in a row is going to be up there because it’s so tough and you see every week how all the teams are struggling to maintain winning, winning and winning,’ added Arteta. ‘I think anything is possible.’