Ruben Amorim’s first match in charge of Manchester United is undoubtedly the major pre-match talking point ahead of Sunday’s trip to Ipswich Town.
But it is a fixture littered with narratives ahead of United’s first trip to Portman Road since April 2002.
The Tractor Boys are, of course, managed by Kieran McKenna who worked at United between 2016 and 2021. The Northern Irishman was United’s under-18s manager before working on the coaching staff of Jose Mourinho, Ole Gunnar Solskjaer and Ralf Rangnick in the first team.
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Since joining Ipswich in December 2021, he has achieved unprecedented success and guided them to back-to-back promotions, taking the club from League One in 2022/23 to the Premier League in 2024/25.
And that is not where the Ipswich-United connections end. After winning promotion to the Championship, McKenna handed a career lifeline to former United defender Axel Tuanzebe, signing him on a free transfer.
Tuanzebe was handed his United debut as a teenager by Mourinho and was highly rated at Old Trafford. Two successful loan spells followed at Aston Villa ended in promotion to the Premier League which only heightened his reputation and he returned to Old Trafford in the summer of 2019 as a 21-year-old ready to compete for a first team place.
He captained the side in a Carabao Cup win over Rochdale and also established himself as a starting centre-half in Solskjaer’s side.
However, injury troubles curtailed his progress and he started his first game in 10 months in October 2020 against PSG in the Champions League.
Tuanzebe kept both Kylian Mbappe and Neymar quiet that night as United emerged with a 2-1 win in Paris and many felt it was his time to really kick on in a United shirt.
“To put up a performance like this against Neymar and Mbappé, I have to say he almost surprised us as well,” Solskajer said after the game.
Goalkeeper David de Gea added: “To be honest, he has been unbelievable today. He’s had difficult moments with the injuries. Now he showed today that he is capable of playing big games.”
But those injury concerns would never truly go away. Unsuccessful loan spells with Aston Villa, Napoli and Stoke City followed and he was released by United as a 25-year-old.
Despite showing so much promise, his opportunities were limited. Eventually, McKenna came calling in September last year and offered him an initial one year contract.
He has since established himself as Ipswich’s starting right-back and played a crucial role as Ipswich upset the odds to win promotion to the Premier League.
Tuanzebe started Ipswich’s first six Premier League matches, too, before a freak thumb injury ruled him out for four weeks.
He returned earlier this month, though, playing the full 90 minutes as Ipswich stunned Tottenham to win 2-1 away from home to record their first victory of the season.
Tuanzebe was tipped by Solskjaer to become a leader in the United dressing room. Circumstances prevented that but he will line up with a point to prove against his former employers on Sunday.
Having once been determined to make his mark at United, he will now be aiming to plot their downfall on the Premier League’s first glimpse of the Amorim era.
