Ruben Amorim bans signings of ex-Ten Hag players

Ruben Amorim has made it clear that Manchester United will no longer continue their policy of signing Dutch and Eredivisie players.

This policy dominated Erik ten Hag’s transfer markets during his two years at the club.

Ten Hag signed a host of his former players from Ajax, as well as players he knew well from the Eredivisie or Netherlands.

These included the likes of Antony, Matthijs de Ligt, Andre Onana, Lisandro Martinez, Noussair Mazraoui, Joshua Zirkzee and Tyrell Malacia.

READ MORE: Out of contract in 2025: The best free agents available on a Bosman

However, the majority of these signings have been underwhelming at best and a disaster at worst.

According to reports in Spain, as cited by Football365, Amorim will no longer sign players from the Dutch market.

This also means that he will end Ten Hag’s pursuit of Barcelona’s former Ajax midfielder Frenkie de Jong, who was a target for 2025.

Amorim at Man Utd

Amorim was announced as the next permanent Man Utd head coach last week following the sacking of Ten Hag.

The 39-year-old will remain at Sporting Lisbon until 11 November due to a notice period clause in his contract with his first official game as Man Utd boss coming against Ipswich Town on 24 November.

READ MORE: How Man Utd will line up under Ruben Amorim

In completing his switch from Sporting CP to Man Utd, Amorim has taken on one of the hardest coaching jobs in football, becoming the sixth permanent head coach since the retirement of Sir Alex Ferguson in 2013.

The 39-year-old arrives with a glowing reputation. Amorim won two Portuguese league titles with Sporting CP, which saw him end the club’s 19-year Primeira Liga drought. Additionally, he won two League Cups and the Portuguese Supercup in 2021.

Amorim is a revered figure in Lisbon, although he has never made a secret of his desire to coach in the Premier League one day. Earlier this year, he flew to London for talks with West Ham but nothing came of it and he had to publicly apologise to Sporting and the club’s supporters for engaging in talks mid-season.

Now, one of Europe’s most highly sought-after coaching commodities has fulfilled his Premier League dream. Can he be the man to finally turn Man Utd’s fortunes around?