Man United officials have not been in formal talks with Gareth Southgate about succeeding Ruben Amorim as head coach, according to journalist Fabrizio Romano.

Speaking on his YouTube channel, Romano said that the former England boss has strong ties to INEOS but Southgate isn’t being lined up for the United job at this stage:

“My understanding, guys, from Manchester United sources, [is that] they are playing down all the reports saying that Sir Jim Ratcliffe, or anyone at the club, already met officially with Gareth Southgate to discuss the possibility for the former England boss to become the new Manchester United manager.”

“I told you yesterday that the relationship between people at INEOS is very good with Gareth Southgate, and that’s why we have links, but at the moment of concrete negotiations, I’m not aware of any proposal. I’m not aware of Manchester United going around and telling managers, Southgate or anyone else, like, we want you to be the new boss.”

Man United are continuing to back Amorim

Despite the noise following the 3-1 defeat to Brentford last weekend, INEOS and the club’s board have given no indication that they are willing to part ways with their current head coach.

It has been a very disappointing start to the campaign, with the Red Devils currently sitting in 14th place, but it appears Amorim will get more time to turn things around.

Mbeumo has blamed the players

Speaking ahead of the clash against Sunderland this weekend, summer signing Bryan Mbeumo said that the first-team squad need to take a hard look at themselves:

“I think everyone in the team needs to take responsibility. When you play in a club this big, everyone needs to know what to do – as a team, we need to do better.”

Ultimately, though, the buck does stop with the manager, and if Amorim can’t secure a win at home this weekend when his team take on Sunderland, there will be massive pressure to change the man in the dugout. At the moment, though, Southgate is not in the frame to be his successor.

Read more about the Manchester United First Team Squad for 2025/26 here