Amorim sidesteps questions on Fernandes and Garnacho ahead of league finale

MANCHESTER, England : Manchester United boss Ruben Amorim sidestepped questions about the futures of captain Bruno Fernandes and Alejandro Garnacho ahead of their final Premier League match against Aston Villa on Sunday that will cap one of the club's worst seasons in history.

After United's costly 1-0 loss to Tottenham Hotspur in Wednesday's Europa League final, Fernandes said the club might have to sell him, and recent reports have Saudi team Al-Hilal set to offer around 100 million pounds ($135.36 million) for the Portugal international.

A disgruntled Garnacho sounded like he was leaning towards leaving in a social media post after Wednesday's loss, writing: "Up until the final I played every round helping the team, and today I play 20 minutes, I don't know.

"The final will influence (my decision) but the whole season, the situation of the club."

Amorim addressed the media on Saturday for the first time since the loss that meant United will not be playing European football next season, and refused to be drawn into conversation about the pair.

"I always speak to my players but the focus now is on the last game," the 40-year-old manager said. "We have a plan and we prepared for both situations, with Champions League and without. Now we have to focus on the last game."

Amorim and his men had hoped to salvage something positive on Wednesday in a season that has them languishing 16th in the Premier League ahead of Sunday's season finale, and so the loss in Bilbao was a huge blow.

"It was very tough and it still is," he said. "It was harsh for us to lose that game. We were the better team, we had more chances."

He summed up the season as "really hard".

"I will not try to convince you otherwise, it's been a tough season but we had