Why the next four weeks are Ruben Amorim's most important at Manchester United

We have double-checked and triple-checked the calendar. Manchester United take off for their pre-season tour in exactly four weeks.

Their friendly schedule begins in roughly three-and-a-half weeks with another Scandinavian-set friendly against Leeds United. It is their third in six years against their local adversary on foreign turf. It was only three-and-a-half weeks ago that United's post-season tour ended.

Pre-season medicals will be conducted at Carrington in two weeks. Cameramen and photographers are likely to cover both entrances into United's training complex on July 7 in an effort to spot their personas non grata.

Such is the pettiness of Alejandro Garnacho and Marcus Rashford it would not be a surprise if either were unaccounted for. Jadon Sancho does not have a squad number and might as well have cleared out his locker nearly two years ago.

Rashford, Garnacho and Sancho jeopardise squad harmony. Sancho also derided United with a one-word comment on Rashford's Instagram post in February. "Freedom," Sancho wrote. Sancho has freedom of movement, only Chelsea have paid a fee not to buy him.

Chelsea would rather sign Jamie Gittens, a younger winger who left Manchester City's academy for Borussia Dortmund three years after Sancho. That's how little Chelsea think of Sancho and how far his stock has sunk since he joined United four years ago. And he still will not accept a pay cut.

Ruben Amorim has not met Sancho and he does not need to. Sancho eschewed pre-season training in his first summer at United in 2021 when he was expected up at St Andrew's, so he can stay away from his current teammates.

Amorim could do without the sight of the content-creating "brothers" who undermined United on Sunday, too. Rashford and