Manchester United are now dangerously close to letting Ruben Amorim down

Ruben Amorim seemed to have a spring in his step when he arrived at Carrington last week.

Amorim looked healthy - the size of the Manchester United job weighed on him last season - and smiled as he was photographed, but his mood might be different behind closed doors.

United made the perfect start to the summer when they announced the signing of Matheus Cunha on the opening day of the transfer window. Shortly after that, an opening bid was submitted for Bryan Mbeumo, although Brentford have proved tough to crack in negotiations and Mbeumo remains in London.

Most of the players returned to Carrington for pre-season on Monday morning and the squad is weaker now than it was when Amorim arrived from Sporting Lisbon in November.

Cunha has been added to the squad, but Alejandro Garnacho and Marcus Rashford were at Amorim's disposal when he was appointed and they're not part of his plans for the new season.

Antony and Tyrell Malacia were also at Amorim's disposal before leaving on loan to Real Betis and PSV respectively in the January window. Their returns to Carrington have been delayed as they look for new clubs.

United finished 15th in the Premier League and, yet, they have a weaker squad in the second week of July than at the end of last season, which must privately concern Amorim.

Amorim will oversee the opening pre-season friendly of the summer against Leeds in Stockholm on July 19 and there should be an opportunity for journalists to briefly speak with him.

Erik ten Hag spoke to reporters who travelled to Norway for United's opening pre-season friendly last summer and took a few minutes to speak again in the Murrayfield tunnel in Edinburgh.

Those encounters gave journalists the chance to probe Ten Hag on the summer