Omar Berrada says Manchester United have plan in place for ambitious transfer window
The Red Devils are looking to rebuild the side after their worst top-flight season since they were relegated in 1973-74, which was compounded by last week's Europa League final loss to Tottenham in Bilbao.
That damaging defeat meant United missed out on silverware and Champions League qualification, worth an estimated £100million, and the club have wasted little time trying to improve Ruben Amorim's side.
Amorim's United were on the receiving end of another defeat today as they went down 1-0 to the Asean Allstars in Malaysia.
Cunha, meanwhile, looks set to be first through the door as Wolves granted them permission to schedule a medical and finalise a deal for the Brazil international, having met his £62.5million release clause.
It could start a busy summer in terms of incomings and outgoings at Old Trafford, with chief executive Berrada confident about United's plans.
'I can't talk about specifics, but I can say that we've been planning for many months now,' he told MUTV. 'We were ready for all the different scenarios, so now we know what we need to do.
'We have a very clear idea of where we need to invest in the squad to improve, so (technical director) Jason (Wilcox), his team, Ruben have been in talks for many months.
'Now it's a question of executing that plan and doing it in a way that is prudent but at the same time with ambition.'
We need your consent to load this Social Media content. We use a number of different Social Media outlets to manage extra content that can set cookies on your device and collect data about your activity.
Please review your details and accept them to load the content
Berrada was speaking on the first stop of United's post-season trip to Asia, which is set to bring the club around £8million.
Amorim's men began the tour with a shock 1-0 defeat to the ASEAN All-Stars in hot and humid Kuala Lumpur on Wednesday, with the side heading to Hong Kong for another friendly on Friday.
ADVERTISEMENT
United's defeat in Malaysia came a week to the day since their Europa League final loss in Spain and just three days on from beating Aston Villa 2-0 in their Premier League finale at Old Trafford.
The result saw the Red Devils finish 15th, with Amorim telling fans that 'the good days are coming' as the head coach apologised for a wretched campaign during an impassioned end-of-season address.
I'm very excited about what's coming ahead of us
United CEO Omar Berrada
United chief executive Berrada said: 'Ruben spoke really well on Sunday and he's right: the past is the past.
'It's important to learn. Now we need to stay together, stay united and I can only say again thank you to the fans.
'The owner has also been very supportive in this transition year and now we just need to work really hard and do everything we can to bring the club back to the top.
'I'm very excited about what's coming ahead of us. Like Ruben said, now we just need to work really hard as a unit, as a club and I'm sure the good days will be back, as he said.'
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Irish Examiner
3 hours ago
- Irish Examiner
Letters to the Editor: GAA has lost the hearts and minds of the country
For two years now I have been saying the GAA's 'split season' is an absolute disaster and to tell the truth, I've often felt like I was wasting my time and energy, so I'm glad that at least one former Inter County manager has come around to my way of thinking. Let me repeat again, the split season has been an unmitigated disaster for the GAA. But let's examine the reasons why the split season was introduced in the first place. Undoubtedly, ordinary GAA Club players weren't getting fair play under the old system, where the Inter County Championships ran from May until September. A club championship game was fixed, then the County team were involved on a draw and replay, and the Club game went off. This happened repeatedly — first rounds of Club championships were often played in May and it could be September before the next game. Certainly there was no certainty for the Club players who make up around 92% of all hurlers and footballers — they couldn't plan holidays, weddings, honeymoons or other social occasions. There was a major problem and as a Club Officer for decades, I am well aware of what pertained. The so-called solution — the Utopia, the panacea — the much-lauded split season has solved one problem but caused many others far more serious than the old postponement of fixtures. Has the GAA ever commissioned a cost-benefit analysis of the split season? Maybe secretly, but I never heard of it anyway. I don't simply mean cost-benefit in terms of finance, but in terms of developing our games and promotion. Our promotion in the GAA is woeful. Take the Munster Final next week. After great games in the early round, we now play our top game at 6 o'clock of a Saturday evening — have we a curtain raiser? Have we a band? Have we a price hike for tickets? The club championships in every county are the 'bread and butter', the lifeblood of the GAA in every parish. Our Inter County games then should be our shop window, our Champions League, our premiership, something to attract youngsters to Gaelic Games and foster a love of our native pastimes. Here we are at the end of May and over 60% of all our Inter County Hurling teams are 'wrapped up' for 2025. Promotion — how are ya! Fair play to one of the Munster rugby bosses who lately commented on the 'promotional value' to rugby of big games in Croke Park and Páirc Uí Chaoimh. Fair play to the GAA, we truly are sportingly ecumenical, but it isn't it time we saw after our own? Losing the absolute grasp we had on the minds and hearts of the country every September has been an unmitigated disaster. Is the GAA too proud to admit 'We made a mistake' and admit the same in regards the decoupling of minor and senior inter-county games. Ad nauseam I have proposed a dual 'side-by-side' Club and Inter County games programme running from April until September — like the song says 'When will they ever learn?' John Arnold, Bartlemy, Co Cork Time to honour our Defence Forces heroes Commandant (retired) Ray Cawley once again draws attention (Letters, Irish Examiner) to continuing 'failure' of various Irish governments to ensure the heroic actions of the members of the Irish Defence Forces and the brilliant leadership displayed in the defence of Jadotville are properly acknowledged. Cmdt Cawley, in my opinion, correctly criticises our Government, senior civil servants, and military hierarchy for their continuing failure in this regard. I can confirm that during my time with the United Nations peacekeeping operations, I met several civilian and military personnel who were in the Congo at the time of the siege of Jadotville. All spoke in glowing terms of the performance of Irish military personnel. Several military officers from various nations confirmed to me that the defence of Jadotville is used in their training academies as an example of outstanding defensive actions. Yet successive Irish governments in the past 60 years have failed to properly recognise the actions of those brave men. Shame on them all, government ministers and ministers for defence — beginning with Micheál Martin, former minister for defence, and Simon Harris, current minister for defence. Recently, Fergus Finlay wrote: 'Our leaders are running a 'do-nothing' parliament and it's offensive.' Any wonder that Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael between them could not form a government after the last general election? The people of Ireland deserve better. Over to you, Micheál and Simon. Michael Moriarty, Rochestown, Cork Trump deserves praise for keeping cool head The editorial on May 27 adopted a rather belligerent attitude towards US president Donald Trump for, apparently, not plunging Europe, including Ireland, into a devastating world war since his return to the presidential office in the US. Looked at a little more objectively, it would appear that Mr Trump is behaving in a somewhat restrained manner for the sake of the American people, and for all our sakes, by not allowing himself to be dragged or pushed by belligerent people into a world war scenario. The Irish Examiner's editorial attack on Mr Trump is quite personal. The extract reads 'Trump's narcissistic streak' and 'Trump needs to up his game'. Instead of such negative personalised comments, the Irish Examiner should be thanking Mr Trump, profusely, for keeping a cool head — and avoiding, so far, a major world war — unlike certain other European leaders. In the Financial Times, in an editorial under the heading 'Europe needs smart rearmament', on May 15, Ursula von der Leyen, European Commission president, is quoted as follows: 'If Europe wants to avoid war, Europe must get ready for war.' I think this is ill-conceived advice from the European Commission president — it is myopic; it ignores the underlying causes of the two horrific wars in Europe in the last century, namely the First World War and Second World War. Is this lady readying the scene for another world war? For instance, regarding the Second World War, the construction by France in the 1930s of the heavily fortified and armed Maginot Line along its border with Germany didn't avoid that war. It would appear that Ms Von der Leyen, along with others in Europe and elsewhere, are unaware of the dire recent warnings by an eminent US organisation, the Science and Security Board, of the imminent nuclear threat facing the people of Europe, including Ireland. For instance, since the beginning of the year, the Doomsday Clock (Albert Einstein et al) has moved closer than it has ever been to predicting a major global disaster — the clock now stands at 89 seconds to midnight. The Doomsday Clock's Science and Security Board Bulletin of Atomic Scientists warned on January 28, 2025, with regard, for example, to the increasing possibility of nuclear war, that: 'The war in Ukraine, now in its third year, looms over the world; the conflict could become nuclear at any moment because of a rash decision or through accident or miscalculation.' Micheál O'Cathail, Dún Laoghaire, Co Dublin We must stand up for victims of Gaza now In the years to come, a global generation of young people will confront their parents with simple questions: What did you do to oppose the catastrophic genocide of innocent civilians in Gaza? What did you do to resist the deliberately induced Israeli famine in Gaza? If that question is met with a variation of, 'What could we do? We were only observers/bystanders with no direct ability to challenge the slaughter,' it will be treated with the same contemptuous response that consumed the first generation of post-Second World War German children in the 1960s, when they demanded of their parents, 'What did you know or not do about the persecution of Jews that culminated in the Holocaust? The overwhelming response to that question was a variation of personal innocence, ignorance, and/or helplessness. This led to the scathing term 'mitläufer', a label depicting an individual, who through a lack of courage, didn't confront the obvious evilness of the evolving Holocaust. What's your view on this issue? You can tell us here We witness in real time on a daily basis the mass starvation and daily bombardment of 2m defenceless Palestinians. Will our children and grandchildren in the years to come not also challenge us with a simple question: What did you demand of your government? The very least we should be able to answer is that we demanded of our TDs an immediate implementation of the occupied territories bill — a piece of legislation which is a totally inadequate resort to the incremental displacement of Palestinians in the West Bank. Yet consecutive Irish governments have found multiple excuses to not apply even this deficient response. If we do not mobilise as a national collective to demand/force our representatives to act on Israeli genocide, we too will have to bare the guilt of the morally outraged yet, at the same time, otherwise engaged citizen. Kevin McCarthy, Clonfadda, Killaloe, Clare Cruel impact of Catholic Church's negative labels The Irish Catholic Catechism of 2014 states homosexual acts are 'intrinsically disordered' and 'contrary to the natural law'. Sadly, this teaching can unfairly put gay people off having any gay friendships, and it can also prevent normal friendships forming between gay people and straight people. In turn, Catholic straight people also get to hear false biology teaching from their own Church — a false type of lesson that is easily apt to mischievously get under their skin and make Catholic straight people feel uncomfortable to be in social settings with gay people. This can cruelly be the case, I feel, no matter how talented and nice gay people may strive to appear to be. The Catholic Church often says gay people should be loved by everyone else in society. But this will, I fear, never fully make up for the harm such an offensive and divisive term as 'unnatural' can cause this significant minority. Many acts committed against the law of our land are not considered unnatural and so may soon enough be forgiven and forgotten. But, I believe, unfortunately, when some people are labelled as being unnatural, then this negative label may unhappily never leave them at all. Seán O'Brien, Carnanes South, Kilrush, Co Clare Read More Irish Examiner view: Trump tariff plan in disarray just as his biggest cheerleader exits
The Irish Sun
4 hours ago
- The Irish Sun
How ex-Man Utd and Arsenal flop Mkhitaryan can make history in Champions League final as Inter Milan take on PSG
HE bombed without trace at two of the Premier League's biggest clubs and he was the often-forgotten makeweight in one of most disastrous transfers in the top-flight's recent history. But at the age of 36, Henrikh Mkhitaryan can make European football history by helping Inter Milan to the Champions League crown against Paris Saint-Germain. Advertisement 4 Henrikh Mkhitaryan can become the first player to win all three European competitions Credit: Getty 4 He already has the Europa and Conference Leagues to his name Credit: Getty When Alexis Sanchez switched from Arsenal to Old Trafford in January 2018 — a move announced by an infamous social-media video of the Chilean tickling the ivories with 'Glory, Glory And while Sanchez became one of United's greatest flops, Mkhitaryan did not fare much better in north London. The Armenian midfield man was Arsene Wenger's penultimate And they were perhaps best summed up helping Unai Emery's Gunners to the 2019 Europa League final against Advertisement READ MORE IN FOOTBALL Yet if Inter claim the Champions League - Mkhitaryan will become the first player to play an active role in winning the finals of all three existing European club competitions. He both lifted the Europa League and Conference League under Jose Mourinho — with United in 2017 and Roma in 2022 — even though The Special One ditched him in that Sanchez swap deal. The feeling was Mkhitaryan was too lightweight and passive for the Premier League. And while United fans enjoyed his occasional moments of flair, Mourinho took against him. Advertisement Most read in Football JOIN SUN VEGAS: GET £50 BONUS Yet at Inter his experience and nous make him a key member of Simone Inzaghi's side which narrowly missed out on the Scudetto as well as losing this season's Italian Cup final. They are desperate to avoid a hat-trick of runners-up medals by winning in Munich. Mkhitaryan said: 'I hope experience will count in the final. It's not just me, I have a lot of experienced team-mates.' Advertisement He is not kidding. In Serie A, they certainly value a good veteran. Mkhitaryan, his fellow former Man Utd player Matteo Darmian, keeper Yann Sommer and defender But Inter defeated Harry Kane's Bayern Munich in the quarter- finals before coming through their epic semi-final goalfest with Barcelona — 7-6 on aggregate. And the bookies are struggling to separate them from a far more youthful PSG side. Advertisement 4 Henrikh Mkhitaryan is one of many experienced Inter players Credit: Alamy For On the eve of the final, he did little to dampen down rumours of an impending, money-spinning move to the Saudi Pro League with Al-Hilal. Inzaghi, 49, said: 'I will meet the club's senior management and have a chat next week in a very relaxed manner. Advertisement 'Our decision will have the best interests of Inter at heart. 'But it's hugely exciting before a Champions League final.' The long road to the final began with a 0-0 draw against old foes City in the league stage. Inzaghi added: 'We've shown a great desire ever since matchday one in the group phase at City and against some top opposition like Bayer Leverkusen, Bayern Munich and Advertisement 'Now we are just one step shy. We deserve to be here. "Two years ago we played against Pep's City — who were the best team in the world at that time — and we possibly deserved more. 'We have learned from that and we will use that experience. ' Advertisement 'But we have the most possession in Serie A this season. 'We must keep the ball and use our hard running, desire and experience if we are to bring home the trophy.' Flanked by captain Lautaro Martinez — a World Cup winner with Argentina — and Italy midfielder Nicolo Barella, Inzaghi said: 'I am here with two players who bleed black and blue. They are hugely important players. I have blind faith in both of them. 'I am asking them all for concentration and determination — but not obsession because we need cool heads and free minds. Advertisement 'We have Champions League and World Cup winners in the squad and we have learned a lot over our four years together.' Martinez, who has netted nine times in this season's Champions League, says the players will dedicate the trophy to Inzaghi if they beat PSG. The striker, 27, said: 'We're pretty relaxed about the rumour, we hear them day in and day out about our players and coach. 'We want to dedicate this trophy to the coach as well as the fans and our families who are with us every day. Advertisement 'Everything we have achieved is down to the hard work, sacrifice and humility of the team unit.' 4 Simone Inzaghi says his side have learned from final heartbreak two years ago Credit: Shutterstock Editorial
The Irish Sun
5 hours ago
- The Irish Sun
Ruben Amorim certain Bruno Fernandes will REJECT £100m Saudi transfer as he needs to play in ‘best league in the world'
RUBEN AMORIM believes Bruno Fernandes wants to stay at Manchester United — despite a £100MILLION offer from Saudi Arabia. Fernandes' agent, Miguel Pinho, held talks with Saudi side Al-Hilal at a Riyadh hotel on Thursday over a Advertisement 2 Bruno Fernandes' agent has held talks over a move to Al-Hilal Credit: Getty 2 Ruben Amorim believes his captain will stay Credit: Shutterstock Editorial It would make him one of the world's highest-paid players. But Red Devils boss Fernandes played the first-half of United's And when asked if it was the skipper's final game for the club, Amorim said: 'I don't think so. Advertisement READ MORE IN FOOTBALL 'I don't know for sure, nobody knows, but 'He is seeing us taking some actions to change all the things and I think that is all that he wants to stay. 'He's saying 'no' to a lot of things, but it shows that he wants to win. "He's really young, he's really good. He needs to be in the best league in the world.' Advertisement Most read in Football Breaking JOIN SUN VEGAS: GET £50 BONUS The Europa League final loss to Spurs capped a disastrous season and threatens to damage Amorim's rebuild, which includes a £62.5m deal for Wolves' United player of the year Ruben Amorim breaks silence over futures of Bruno Fernandes and Alejandro Garnacho Asked whether United could turn down such a fee, Amorim — who saw Chido Obi (twice) and Ayden Heaven score against Hong Kong — added: 'Yes. We can find another way to earn money. Advertisement 'I'm the manager, I'm the coach but sometimes it's the decision of the player. 'I just have that feeling that he wants to stay.' Defender He said: 'We will make a lot of changes in the summer. There will be a lot of players who leave and hopefully a lot will come in. Advertisement 'And that's down to the club to make sure they get that right and it's down to us players to make sure we are the ones involved.' Join SUN CLUB for the Man Utd Files every Thursday plus in-depth coverage and exclusives from Old Trafford
