ESPN

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According to ESPN,, external Manchester United boss Ruben Amorim has paid for 30 of his backroom staff to take their families to the Europa League final.

The report suggests that United's head coach has covered the cost for each staff member to take up to two friends or family.

This comes after reports emerged that the club has made two tickets available for staff to purchase for the big game in Bilbao.

Simon Stone
BBC Sport chief football news reporter

Manchester United will hold a barbeque at the club's Carrington training ground to celebrate if they beat Tottenham Hotspur in next week's Europa League final.

And no parade is planned should they win the tournament.

Players are also being restricted to two free tickets each for the match, with on-the-day travel to the final in Bilbao on Wednesday, 21 May.

The decisions come after a series of cost-cutting measures at the club which have included redundancies and the removal of free lunches for staff.

While United's squad have been told they can purchase up to 10 more tickets for the game against Spurs at San Mames Stadium, they will also be responsible for organising how friends and relatives get in and out of the northern Spanish city.

United say they are committed to ensuring as many tickets as possible from the club's official 15,000 allocation go to supporters.

At the weekend it was revealed staff will not receive free tickets for the game as previously used to be the case. Instead a viewing party is being hosted in central Manchester.

Karan Vinod
BBC Sport Journalist

Manchester United have had a whirlwind of a European season in the Europa League. The English giants are now one game away from winning the trophy for the second time and qualifying for next season's Champions League.

In their 14 games they have beaten the likes of Lyon, Athletic Bilbao, Real Sociedad and Rangers, and have looked dominant as well, barring the second half and extra-time of their quarter-final second leg against Lyon.

Let's have a look at some of the stats outlining their dominance in the Europa League this season:

• Most goals - 35
• Most possession - 56.5%
• Highest passing accuracy - 86.1%
• Most wins - 9 (tied with Tottenham)
• Least losses - 0

Image source, Getty Images

Manchester United's form in the Premier League has been in stark contrast to that in Europe, where Ruben Amorim has led the Red Devils to their first European final since 2021, when lost they the Europa League showpiece to Villarreal on penalties.

They now have a chance to list their first European trophy since beating Ajax 2-0 to win the 2017 Europa League final.

Image source, Getty Images

• Ruben Amorim's win record of 24% is worse than any Manchester United manager since Sir Alex Ferguson's reign, with David Moyes' 50% the second-worst.

• United have won just six of their 25 league matches, drawing six and losing 13.
• In that time they have conceded 41 goals, with only the three relegated sides and Tottenham conceding more.

• They also have the sixth-worst record in the league in front of goal, failing to score in 10 of their 25 league games and finding the net 30 times.

As it stands, Ruben Amorim sits at the bottom of points per game from a Manchester United manager since Sir Alex Ferguson left the club in 12 years ago.

To make it worse, Ole Gunnar Solskjaer, who managed four times as many United games, has a higher points-per-game ratio than the Portuguese boss.

It's worth mentioning that United sacked Solskjaer with the club seventh in the Premier League.

Jess Anderson
BBC Sport

Manchester United's record at home has been particularly damaging.

With nine home Premier League defeats they have suffered their joint-most losses in a single league campaign at Old Trafford, along with 1930-31, 1933-34 and 1962-63.

Their 17 league defeats overall are their most in a league campaign since 1973-74 (20), the last time they were relegated to the second tier.

They have fallen behind in 19 of their 25 league games (W3 D3 L13) - only Southampton (21) and Leicester (23) have trailed in more matches - with United going 1-0 down 12 times at Old Trafford. Only Leicester have done so more (15).

Image source, Getty Images

Manchester United were already on a downward trajectory when Ruben Amorim took over from Erik ten Hag last year. The Red Devils were sat 14th in the Premier League with three wins from their opening nine matches.

Things were bad, but they got worse. While a new manager can often bring struggling teams a turn in fortunes or a so-called 'new manager bounce', no such thing has happened at United and instead their dour form has intensified under Amorim.

They have accrued 24 points from 25 league games, dropped to 16th and their win record sits at an uncomfortably low 24%.

Against the 16 non-relegated teams this season they have picked up just 23 points from a possible 87. If results against the three relegated teams were removed from the Premier League, United would sit rock bottom.

Since 26 January, Amorim's side have only beaten relegated duo Ipswich and Leicester in the league.

On the basis of three points for a win, they are heading for their worst tally since their 1930-31 relegation campaign, when they would have collected 29 points in a 42-game campaign.

Sorry United fans, we can't put it off any longer... it's time to look at what has cast a shadow over the team's run to this season's Europa League final, their woeful form in the Premier League.

What do you make of the news that Manchester United will not be holding an awards night this year - even though their men's and women's teams could both end the season with a trophy?

Understandable given the poor league form of the men's team? Harsh on the players of the men's team - along with women's and youth players - for their efforts not to be recognised with a proper 'do'?

Let us know your thoughts via the usual channels listed above.

Simon Stone
BBC Sport chief football news reporter

Image source, Getty Images

Manchester United have decided not to hold an end of year players' awards night for the second season running.

United cancelled their plans 12 months ago as the senior men's team finishing eighth in the Premier League, even though they won the FA Cup. This year, the club have opted not to arrange anything.

The awards night usually involved prizes for players from across the men's, women's and youth teams.

Although the men's side are heading for their worst league finish since the 1973-74 relegation campaign, they could still qualify for the Champions League by winning the Europa League.

As was the case 12 months ago, United's women's team could win the FA Cup. They play Chelsea in the final at Wembley on Sunday. United have already qualified for next season's Women's Champions League thanks to their third-place league finish.

United have ruled out a parade if the men's side beat Tottenham in Bilbao on 21 May and instead will host a barbecue at their Carrington training ground the day after the game.

ICYMI, there was news last night from Simon on what will be a subdued end to the season for Manchester United, no matter what they do in Bilbao next Wednesday...

Simon Stone
BBC Sport chief football news reporter

I was at Carrington earlier for Manchester United’s ‘open’ training session ahead of their Europa League final with Tottenham.

It was not quite as advertised as all we got was the stretches the players usually do away from the cameras - followed by the normal rondo's.

The key point was that Leny Yoro was missing after picking up an injury against West Ham on Sunday. Matthijs de Ligt and Ayden Heaven were also absent.

Diogo Dalot didn’t take part either but we did see him returning to the main building after his solo session.

Later today there will be a media session at Old Trafford with the players and head coach Ruben Amorim.

Image source, BBC Sport

There have been mixed vibes around both the Manchester United and Tottenham camps in the build-up to the Europa League final.

There has been little of the feel-good factor you would normally expect from teams who are preparing to play in a European showpiece as both United and Spurs have been struggling in the Premier League.

As we await Ruben Amorim's news conference, we're going to have a recap of United's poor league form, discuss what they might do to address it and look at the consequences of winning - or losing - next Wednesday.

We'll also have updates from our man Simon Stone at Carrington and look at some of the main talking points a week out from the big game in Bilbao.

Manchester United

Image source, Reuters

Manchester United boss Ruben Amorim could be dealing with a depleted backline for the Europa League final. United held an open training session at Carrington this morning and centre-backs Leny Yoro, Matthijs de Ligt and Ayden Heaven were all absent.

Yoro limped off during Sunday's 2-0 home defeat by West Ham with a foot problem while De Ligt picked up an issue at Brentford the previous weekend. Heaven did individual work ahead of last week's semi-final second leg against Athletic Bilbao but was not seen at Wednesday's session.

Jonny Evans and Toby Collyer took part, while Diogo Dalot did an individual session before the main group trained.

Centre-back Lisandro Martinez and forward Joshua Zirkzee have already been ruled out of United's final three games of the season.

The Red Devils play their penultimate Premier League match away to Chelsea on Friday (20:15 BST), before facing Tottenham in Bilbao and ending their campaign at home to Aston Villa.