Ruben Amorim says Bruno Fernandes is itching to return for Manchester United

By Simon Peach, Press Association Chief Football Writer

Manchester United manager Ruben Amorim says injured skipper Bruno Fernandes is already pushing to return and joked he might be after his job as his leadership extends to watching team-mates train even after undergoing treatment.

The 31-year-old found himself in the unusual position of viewing the battling 1-0 Boxing Day win against Newcastle from the Old Trafford stands after picking up a soft tissue injury.

Fernandes initially played on after sustaining the issue at Aston Villa eight days ago, but was withdrawn at half-time with an injury he is already champing at the bit to return from.

“Bruno was already saying that he needs to train, but we don’t know,” Amorim said with a laugh ahead of Tuesday’s Old Trafford encounter against embattled Wolves.

“No chance he is going to play against Wolves. No chance. You can write that.”

But while Fernandes is unable to feature in United’s final fixture of a tumultuous 2025, the captain’s leadership qualities are still coming to the fore.

“He cannot be that guy that (when he) is not playing, he’s not talking and speaking,” boss Amorim said. “He’s always speaking. That’s why he’s the captain.

“He has bad things sometimes, the way moves his arms, but he has a lot of good things.

“Every time he makes recovery from the (previous) game, he is the guy that is going to watch the other guys training in that day, so there is a lot of things that you guys don’t see that he does. He’s a great leader.”

Asked if that continued while he has been injured, the United boss said: “Yeah, all the time. He’s the guy that is watching the training. Even after treatment, he’s going there.

“I don’t know if he wants my job or not, but he’s a leader. The guy is a leader.”

The Portugal international’s injury could be compounded against Wolves by the absence Mason Mount, who was being assessed after coming off at half-time against Newcastle.

Kobbie Mainoo, Harry Maguire and Matthijs de Ligt are also sidelined, while Amad Diallo, Bryan Mbeumo and Noussair Mazraoui are at the Africa Cup of Nations.

Such absentees saw Amorim switch to a back four against Newcastle from his preferred five – an approach he suggested in September that not even the Pope could not make him change.

The 40-year-old explained he was reluctant to move from his favoured set-up after taking charge last November as he was “trying to build an identity”, but stressed that “today is a different moment”.

“We don’t have a lot of players, we need to adapt, but they already know and understand why we are changing,” Amorim said.

“It is not because of the pressure of you guys (in the media), or of the fans. It’s because now we understand the way we want to play and the principles are the same.

“We can change the system and I think we are going to become a better team because when the all the players return, we are not going to play all the time with three defenders. We are going to improve. But that was something that I was talking about.

“But when you talk about changing the system all the time, I cannot change because the players will understand that I’m changing because of you and I think that is the end for the manager.

“So, when we are playing well in our system, I think that is the moment to change if it’s the better thing to win the next game and that’s what we did.”