Manchester Evening News

Ruben Amorim spoke to journalists yesterday as he previewed Manchester United's Europa League final against Tottenham Hotspur.

Manchester United are preparing for their most important game in years as they face Tottenham in the Europa League final next week.

However, before then they must make the trip to Stamford Bridge to face Chelsea, with Ruben Amorim desperate for his squad to leave the capital unscathed ahead of Wednesday's final.

The United boss spoke to the media yesterday to preview the clash with Spurs, and he was asked to elaborate on the comments he made about his future at the club after the defeat to West Ham on Sunday.

Along with that and another injury blow for Spurs ahead of the final, here are your latest United headlines:

Amorim on future

Amorim insists he has no plans to walk away from United after hinting on Sunday that someone should replace him if results don't improve.

United have won just six of Amorim's 25 Premier League games in charge and sit 16th in the table with two fixtures to play. Sunday's 2-0 defeat to West Ham means they have failed to win any of their last seven league games.

Speaking in his post-match press conference, Amorim said someone else should sit in his seat if things didn't change but in his press conference to preview next week's Europa League final, he clarified that he had no intention of quitting.

Read on here >>>

Kulusevski blow for Spurs

Tottenham Hotspur have confirmed Dejan Kulusevski has undergone surgery ahead of their Europa League final against United.

The Manchester Evening News reported on Wednesday morning that Spurs feared the Sweden international would miss the final in Bilbao after suffering a knee injury in Sunday's loss to Crystal Palace.

The club released a statement on Wednesday afternoon, saying: "We can confirm that Dejan Kulusevski suffered an injury to his right patella in our Premier League fixture against Crystal Palace last weekend.

Read on here >>>

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Manchester United face Tottenham Hotspur in the final of the Europa League in Bilbao next Wednesday in a huge match for both clubs

Manchester United are reportedly set to fork out more than £30m in bonuses if they win the Europa League final against Tottenham Hotspur next week.

United, who have been under the watchful eye of Ineos in terms of spending since they bought a minority stake in 2024, are contractually obliged to hand out salary increases if the Reds are playing in the Champions League. The Telegraph claims that the majority of the squad will receive a 25 per cent wage hike meaning the highest earner, Casemiro, would move from £350,000 per week to £437,500 per week by this metric.

The trouble for United is that this season's prize money is unlikely to be the amount that the club would have accepted for gaining Champions League qualification. Last season, a fifth-placed finish in the Premier League, which is enough for Champions League qualification this season, would have landed the club £44.8m.

However, should United finish in their current position of 16th, they will bag just £14m from the Premier League and £10.95m for winning the Europa League, according to last season's figures. This is considerably short of the more than £30m that United owe to their squad for being in the Champions League.

Of course, next season United would have the chance to recoup some of that money from Champions League prize money. This campaign, teams that merely qualified for the league phase of the Champions League bagged £15.7m.

As for Tottenham, it is reported that they will also be due a lump sum of cash for winning the Europa League. It is thought that a sum of £3m will be shared between the squad if they lift the trophy in Bilbao.

Ange Postecoglou is in line for £2m bonus alone if Spurs are victorious. Ruben Amorim has also been reported as being in line for a bonus but that figure is unknown.

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Spurs have confirmed winger Dejan Kulusevski has undergone surgery ahead of their Europa League final against Manchester United.

Tottenham Hotspur have confirmed Dejan Kulusevski has undergone surgery ahead of their Europa League final against Manchester United.

The Manchester Evening News reported on Wednesday morning that Spurs feared the Sweden international would miss the final in Bilbao after suffering a knee injury in Sunday's loss to Crystal Palace.

The club released a statement on Wednesday afternoon, saying: "We can confirm that Dejan Kulusevski suffered an injury to his right patella in our Premier League fixture against Crystal Palace last weekend.

"Following further specialist consultation, the midfielder has undergone surgery today and will commence his rehabilitation with our medical staff immediately. We're all with you, Deki."

Kulusevski has had a huge impact in games against United this season. The 25-year-old has scored 10 goals this season and scored in Spurs' Premier League win at Old Trafford in September as well as the 4-3 defeat of United in the League Cup quarter-finals in December.

James Maddison and midfielder Lucas Bergvall are already ruled out of the Bilbao final for Spurs, who have not won a trophy since the League Cup in 2008.

Next week's final not only hands both clubs a chance of winning a European trophy but will also see the winner qualify for next season's Champions League.

A dire Premier League campaign for both sides has left United languishing in 16th place and Spurs in 17th place, meaning the stakes could not be higher.

Here at the Manchester Evening News, we're dedicated to bringing you the best Manchester United coverage and analysis.

Make sure you don't miss out on the latest United news by joining our free WhatsApp group. You can get all the breaking news and best analysis sent straight to your phone by clicking here to subscribe.

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And finally, if you'd rather listen to our expert analysis then make sure to check out our Manchester is Red podcast, featuring The Samuel Luckhurst Show and The Midweek Debate.

Paul Merson slams Man United Europa League 'plan' - 'A bit of arrogance'

Manchester United can secure an unlikely place in the Champions League next season should they beat Tottenham Hotspur in the Europa League

Former Arsenal midfielder Paul Merson has taken aim at Manchester United following reports that they will not hold a trophy parade should they win the Europa League. Ruben Amorim's side have a chance at silverware when they take on Tottenham Hotspur in Bilbao at the end of May, following their win over Athletic Club in the semi-final.

However, according to reports, the club are planning to keep celebrations low-key if they win the European competition. There is a lot more at stake than just silverware for both United and the North London club as they can secure qualification for the Champions League with a win as both clubs sit just above the relegation zone, following a poor season.

It has been a turgid season at Old Trafford with United consigned to a bottom-half finish following their 4-3 defeat to Brentford earlier this month.

But Amorim's campaign went from bad to worse when they slumped to disappointment at home to West Ham United last time out.

United face two Champions League hopefuls in their final two Premier League matches, with the Europa League final sandwiched in between, and six points from their remaining outings could only see them rise as high as 13th should results go in their favour.

However, reports suggest that the low-key celebrations would be marked with a barbecue at Carrington for the players, staff and their families as opposed to a tour of Manchester celebrating the success with fans.

And the news has been met with disgust by the former Arsenal star.

"The trophies do not come thick and fast," Merson told Sky Sports.

"Man Utd are a million miles off. Enjoy it (trophies) while you can.

"For me, it's a bit of arrogance.

"Winning trophies was the past, so enjoy the present. Who says they win another one for 15 years?

"Now they're going to have a BBQ, think of the fans!

"They'll let you know when the parade is on whether it was right to do.

"Do not leave the fans out because it is about the fans.

"I would want a parade.

"They could win a trophy and if they win it, they have won more than Arsenal.

"Arsenal would love to have a parade. It is hard to win trophies, so do not underestimate winning one.

"It is difficult."

Maddison, Kulusevski, Bergvall - Tottenham injury latest ahead of Man United Europa League final

All the very latest on the Tottenham Hotspur injury front ahead of next week's Europa League final against Manchester United in Bilbao.

Tottenham Hotspur are sweating on the availability of winger Dejan Kulusevski ahead of next Wednesday's Europa League final against Manchester United at the San Mames Stadium.

The Sweden international was forced off in the first half of Sunday's 2-0 Premier League home defeat to Crystal Palace, sparking fears he could be in danger of missing the clash in Bilbao.

Spurs head coach Ange Postecoglou has not been without injury problems in recent weeks and months. Losing Kulusevski for their biggest game in years would be a huge blow.

Ahead of their clash with United, here is all the very latest on the Spurs injury front:

Dejan Kulusevski

Injury: knee

Kulusevski was forced off just 19 minutes into the defeat to Palace after going down with a knee problem. Speaking to the media at Spurs' pre-final media day on Monday, boss Postecoglou described the Swede's issue as a "knock".

"[He's a] bit sore with his knee," he said. "Looks like a knock at this stage. We're going to let it settle for 24 hours but the positive thing is it looks like a knock."

As reported by the Manchester Evening News on Wednesday morning, it is understood he could miss the final. Sources have said his chances of recovering for the clash with United have since reduced and he did not train on Wednesday morning ahead of Spurs' Premier League clash with Aston Villa.

The 25-year-old has been a rare bright spark for Spurs this season, scoring ten goals and registering 11 assists in all competitions. He has netted one goal in the Europa League this term.

Possible return date: unknown.

James Maddison

Injury: knee

Playmaker Maddison has been ruled out for the rest of the season because of a knee injury.

The former Leicester City man was forced off in the first leg of Spurs' Europa League semi-final triumph against Bodo/Glimt at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium and it was confirmed last week he will not play again this season.

"Madders tweaked his knee in the first leg," Postecoglou said. "He's out, he'll miss the rest of the season.

"It's disappointing for him more than anything else, because he has been a big catalyst for us.

Possible return date: pre-season.

Lucas Bergvall

Injury: ankle

Like Maddison, Bergvall will also miss the clash with United after being ruled out for the rest of the season with an ankle injury. He damaged ligaments in his ankle in training ahead of the semi-final first leg win against Bodo/Glimt.

Bergvall, 19, has been a key player for Spurs this season, racking up 45 appearances. He had featured in each of their Europa League outings prior to the semi-finals.

Possible return date: pre-season.

Radu Dragusin

Injury: anterior cruciate ligament (ACL)

Dragusin is a long-term absentee after rupturing his ACL in Tottenham's 3-0 win over Elfsborg in the Europa League at the end of January. He underwent surgery and has been working on his recovery since.

ACL injuries usually take around six months to recover from, meaning he could be back in time for the start of pre-season in July. He did share an encouraging update on his social media on Tuesday night, posting a picture of a bag of footballs and commenting: "Off the radar, on a mission."

Fernandes in pole position for the Golden Boot

Bruno Fernandes is the joint-top leading goalscorer in the Europa League this season after scoring seven goals in the competition so far.

He is currently tied on seven goals alongside Bodo/Glimt's Kasper Hogh and Ayoub El Kaabi of Olympiacos.

The Europa League final is, of course, going to be contested by United and Tottenham Hotspur, meaning neither Hogh or El Kaabi can add to their tallies this season.

Fernandes has been directly involved in 11 goals in the Europa League this term, contributing four assists alongside his seven goals. Only Lyon ace Rayan Cherki has been involved in more goals (12) than Fernandes in the competition, with the Frenchman scoring four and creating eight.

FULL STORY: United training squad revealed

United hosted an open training session at Carrington this morning as part of their media day, meaning the assembled media were allowed to observe training for much longer than they are ahead of a regular European fixture.

United had more than 30 players out on the grass, including a crop of youngsters. Jonny Evans and Toby Collyer were also involved after recent injuries.

Click here to discover the full training squad.

United's Europa League adventure

United have made their way to the Europa League final without losing a single game in the competition this season, meaning they will face Spurs next week 14 games unbeaten in Europe this term.

Here is a reminder of how they have reached the final...

Legaue phase:

United 1-1 FC Twente

FC Porto 3-3 United

Fenerbahce 1-1 United

United 2-0 PAOK

United 3-2 Bodo/Glimt

Viktoria Plzen 1-2 United

United 2-1 Rangers

FCSB 0-2 United

Last-16:

Real Sociedad 1-1 United (first leg)

United 4-1 Real Sociedad (second leg)

Quarter-finals:

Lyon 2-2 United (first leg)

United 5-4 Lyon (second leg)

Semi-finals:

Athletic Bilbao 0-3 United (first leg)

United 4-1 Athletic Bilbao (second leg)

What will be on the agenda today?

Ruben Amorim will speak to the media today as part of his and United's preparations for next week's Europa League final against Tottenham Hotspur at the San Mames Stadium.

United are hosting a special media day today that has already featured an open training session and interviews with members of the squad.

The focus will be on Amorim a little later this afternoon and here is a flavour of what could be on the agenda;

Matthijs de Ligt and Leny Yoro injury latest

Diogo Dalot's recovery

The Europa League's importance

A prospective XI for the final already in mind

United's Europa League performances compared to their Premier League showings

The importance of qualifying for next season's Champions League

Good afternoon!

Hello and welcome along to the Manchester Evening News' live coverage of United head coach Ruben Amorim's pre-Europa League final press conference.

United are hosting a special media day today ahead of the clash with Tottenham Hotspur next week and Amorim will preview the clash by answering questions from the assembled media.

As ever, we will bring you regular updates from the United head coach. There is no need to refresh the page, updates will appear automatically.

TNT Sports has announced how the Europa League final next week between Man United and Tottenham Hotspur can be watched for free.

TNT Sports has confirmed next Wednesday night's Europa League final between Manchester United and Tottenham Hotspur will be available to watch on discovery+ for free.

The two Premier League clubs will go head-to-head at the San Mames Stadium in Bilbao with the ambition of salvaging something from what has been a forgettable campaign for both and securing Champions League qualification for next season.

United booked their place in the final with a 4-1 win over Athletic Bilbao in the second leg of their semi-final showdown last Thursday night, sealing a 7-1 aggregate triumph, while Tottenham Hotspur beat Bodo/Glimt 2-0 to progress 5-1 on aggregate.

Now, ahead of the pair of them going head-to-head in a European final for the very first time, TNT Sports has confirmed the game will be available to watch for free.

Via discovery+, which is the streaming home of TNT Sports, supporters will be able to tune in and watch the game without the need of a subscription fee.

Supporters without a discovery+ account will simply need to download the discovery+ app on their mobile device or tablet, or access it via the web or their TV, and register their details before sitting back and watching the action unfold.

TNT Sports has confirmed the same offering will be in place for both the Europa Conference League and Champions League finals between Chelsea and Real Betis and Inter Milan and Paris Saint-Germain, meaning all three European finals taking place later this month will be available to watch absolutely free.

Additionally, TNT Sports has confirmed their presenting, punditry and commentary teams for the three finals. As far as the Europa League final is concerned, Jules Breach and Lynsey Hipgrave will present the coverage.

Rio Ferdinand, Paul Scholes, Robbie Savage, Gareth Bale and Glenn Hoddle will be on punditry duty.

Commentary will come from Darren Fletcher and Ally McCoist. Danny Jamieson will be the reporter.

Here at the Manchester Evening News, we're dedicated to bringing you the best Manchester United coverage and analysis.

Make sure you don't miss out on the latest United news by joining our free WhatsApp group. You can get all the breaking news and best analysis sent straight to your phone by clicking here to subscribe.

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James Maddison and Lucas Bergvall are already out of the Europa League final against Man United in Bilbao next week.

Tottenham Hotspur fear that Dejan Kulusevski could miss the Europa League final against Manchester United.

Kulusevski was forced off after 19 minutes in Tottenham's 2-0 Premier League home defeat to Crystal Palace on Sunday with a knee injury.

Spurs coach Ange Postecoglou conceded Kulusevski's knee was "still sore" during the club's Uefa media day on Monday and that he "should be okay". However, sources say the Swede's chances of recovery in time for next Wednesday's final have since reduced.

Kulusevski, 25, has scored ten goals for Spurs this season and registered in their Premier League win at Old Trafford in September as well as the 4-3 defeat of United in the League Cup quarter-finals in December.

Playmaker James Maddison and midfielder Lucas Bergvall have already been ruled out of the Bilbao final for Spurs, who have not won a trophy since the League Cup in 2008.

Postecoglou said he would wrap up Tottenham players "in cotton wool" ahead of the Europa League final. Tottenham's final game before they face United is away to Aston Villa on Friday night, 45 minutes before United kick-off at Chelsea.

Spurs are 17th in the Premier League, a point and a place behind United. The teams have lost a combined 37 league matches this season in what has been their worst top flight campaigns since they were relegated in the Seventies.

United went down in 1974 and Spurs finished bottom in 1977. Both clubs came straight back up.

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has been named as the referee for Manchester United's Europa League final against Tottenham, with the German having a controversial past

Felix Zwayer has been confirmed as the referee for Manchester United's Europa League final against Tottenham Hotspur.

United take on Spurs at the San Mames Stadium in Bilbao next Wednesday, May 21st.

UEFA have confirmed that Zwayer will be overseeing the match. The 43-year-old German has officiated over 680 games and has taken charge of several Champions League matches this season.

Despite being highly regarded by UEFA, talk around Zwayer is often overshadowed by a scandal from his early days as a referee.

A 2005 investigation discovered Zwayer accepted a €300 bribe from fellow referee Robert Hoyzer and was subsequently banned for six months by Germany’s ­football federation (DFB) , while Hoyzer was sentenced to two years and five months in prison and received a lifetime ban from football.

Zwayer has since rebuilt his career, becoming one of the Bundesliga's top referees. Last summer, he refereed England's Euro 2024 semi-final victory over the Netherlands, but this hasn't prevented criticism from some quarters, reports football.London.

Real Madrid and England star Jude Bellingham referenced the German's past during a post-match interview following a 3-2 loss to Bayern Munich when he was playing for Borussia Dortmund. The midfielder criticised Zwayer's performance after he failed to award Dortmund a penalty and gave Bayern one for handball.

"You give a referee that has match-fixed before the biggest game in Germany - what do you expect? For me, it wasn't [a penalty]," he said. "He [Hummels] is not even looking at the ball and he's fighting to get it and it hits him. You can look at a lot of the decisions in the game."

Bellingham was fined €40,000 for his comments. Zwayer defended his handball decision in a public interview before taking a two-month break from refereeing.

He told Sky Germany at the time: "The situation was a standard corner kick.

"I see in the game that it's about a touch by Hummels. The question for me was: Is the arm stretched away from the body or not? In real-time, it was not clear whether his arm was moved towards the ball.

"I checked it with [VAR officials] in Cologne and then the arm position was checked.

"The video assistant made an assessment for himself and said that Hummels had his arm away from the body in an unnatural position.

"In the end, he clearly deflected the ball with his elbow and I came to the decision that it was a penalty."

Manchester United news as the referee of United's huge Europa League final clash with Tottenham is confirmed by UEFA

UEFA have confirmed that German referee Felix Zwayer will officiate Manchester United's huge Europa League final showdown with Tottenham on Wednesday, May 21.

Ruben Amorim's men take on Spurs at San Mames Stadium next week looking to lift the Europa League title after an atrocious Premier League campaign.

After knocking out Real Sociedad, Lyon and Athletic Bilbao, United are just one win away from securing a spot in the 2025/26 Champions League.

Now, UEFA have confirmed that Zwayer will lead the team of officials in Bilbao tasked with overseeing the game between the two English clubs.

The referee was appointed for the second leg of Arsenal's Champions League semi-final defeat to Paris Saint-Germain last week and has been involved in almost 700 games.

Zwayer, though, was caught up in a controversy early in his career. In 2005 he was banned for six months for his role in a match-fixing scandal which allegedly included accepting a €300 bribe from another official.

Last summer, Zwayer took charge of England’s 2-1 win over the Netherlands in the Euro 2024 semi-final and this season, he oversaw Arsenal’s defeat in Paris.

Here at The Manchester Evening News, we are dedicated to bringing you the best Manchester United coverage and analysis.

Make sure you don't miss out on the latest United news by joining our free WhatsApp group.

ou can get all the breaking news and best analysis sent straight to your phone by clicking here to subscribe.

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And, finally, if you would rather listen to our expert analysis then make sure to check out our Manchester is Red podcast, featuring The Samuel Luckhurst Show and The Midweek Debate.