Ruben Amorim has aimed a cheeky dig at former Manchester United forward Anthony Elanga after his side’s defeat at the hands of Nottingham Forest on Tuesday night.

The Red Devils were beaten 1-0 at the City Ground, with Elanga scoring the all-important goal after just five minutes. After a United corner was cleared, the winger raced the length of the pitch before sliding his finish past Andre Onana and into the bottom corner.

The goal quickly sparked conversations about how Elanga may have been sold too soon by United given that he has plenty of the qualities that Amorim’s side lack in the final third.

However, despite not being at the helm of the Red Devils when the Sweden international was allowed to join Forest in a deal worth £15million, Amorim does not believe that the decision-makers at Old Trafford made the wrong decision at the time.

Asked whether it is hard to see Elanga performing so exceptionally at Forest, Amorim replied: “No, they have to perform at Manchester United. We can’t look at the players that go away.

“They had their chance at Manchester United.” Elanga may not feel that he truly did have the opportunity to shine at the Theatre of Dreams though given that he was thrown into the first-team as a teenager by Ole Gunnar Solskjaer and coped with the step up well.

The Sweden international left the club after scoring four goals in 55 appearances for the club, with Forest pouncing on how he was placed in the shop window at Old Trafford in 2023 to strike a quick-fire deal for £15million.

The forward now looks set to lead Nuno Espirito Santo’s side into Europe, with the surprise package of the season sitting in third place in the Premier League and nine points clear of Manchester City in fifth.

However, Amorim feels that his side were unfortunate not to have taken three points off Forest on Wednesday night. Speaking at full-time, he explained: “I think we controlled the game. We already knew that this team [Forest] can score goals out of nothing. Then when they scored, we changed the game a little bit for what they want.

“Then we tried sometimes with the good opportunities but I think in the last cross, the last pass, the last assist [it] wasn’t there. When we don’t have that we cannot score goals. But we have some situations and this season is like that. We try it. We have a lot of shots on goal. We push the opponent to the last third. But in the end we had a lack of quality in the final third.”