Manchester United head coach Ruben Amorim brutally admitted that his current squad is “not ready” to be competitive in the Champions League and Premier League.

Amorim’s characteristic candour came shortly after the final whistle of United’s 16th Premier League defeat of the season. Never before had the competition’s record champions lost more than 14 matches in a single campaign, with Sunday’s 4-3 reverse to Brentford extending that unwanted record.

The last time United recorded more than 16 league losses was back in 1973/74, when they tumbled out of the First Division following 20 top-flight defeats.

Despite this slew of unwanted landmarks, United could still end the campaign with a European trophy and a spot in next season’s Champions League. After romping to a 3-0 first-leg victory over Athletic Club in the Europa League semi-finals, Amorim’s side are heavy favourites to reach the showpiece fixture where they will likely face fellow Premier League strugglers Tottenham Hotspur.

The painfully pessimistic head coach called the prospect of securing this “short cut” into the continental elite a “real dilemma”. “We are not ready to play in the Premier League, be competitive, and to be in the Champions League,” he bluntly explained to Sky Sports this weekend.

“We know that, but we need to win, and we need to fight to win this competition, to give something to our fans, and to go to the Champions League.

“Then we will have time to prepare the team to cope with those two competitions. So, it is a dilemma, but we want to win, of course.”

Amorim is clearly prioritising United’s European run. The 40-year-old boss named the youngest Premier League starting XI in club history against Brentford as he unashamedly saved his senior players for Thursday’s decisive second leg at home to Athletic.

While the youngsters ultimately came off second-best against a street-wise Brentford side, Amorim was full of praise for their effort.

“I think they did really well,” he insisted. “They [have] not [been] playing so much, but then they have to play 90 minutes because we have to change some other players to save them for Thursday.”

17-year-old striker Chido Obi was the most junior of this embryonic bunch, becoming the youngest player to ever start a Premier League match for Manchester United.

Amorim noted that “Chido fought for all game” before pointing to some of the teenager’s flaws: “But you can feel that he’s really naive sometimes in the way he puts his body. He’s going to understand what is the feeling of playing in these games. This is the best way.”