MANCHESTER UNITED may have to wait a number of weeks before Sporting Lisbon boss Ruben Amorim takes charge as their new manager, reports claim.
Sporting all but confirmed United will poach Amorim after announcing the Premier League giants are willing to pay his £8.3m release clause.
The Lisbon giants did not confirm whether they had accepted the Red Devils’ advances in a letter to the Portuguese stock exchange but reports suggested it’s only a matter of time until a deal is finalised.
According to The Mail, however, talks have hit a snag regarding the Portuguese tactician’s notice period, which will last several weeks.
United are happy to meet the 39-year-old head coach’s clause but are currently negotiating when he can start.
Amorim may now not be in the dugout when the Premier League giants host Chelsea on Sunday.
In fact, the Sporting boss may not take charge until Man Utd visit Ipswich on November 24.
Interim boss Ruud van Nistelrooy will be in charge against Leicester in the Carabao Cup last 16 on Wednesday at Old Trafford.
Van Nistelrooy may also be in the dugout for the game with Chelsea, the Europa League encounter at home against PAOK and the Premier League clash with the Foxes on November 10 at Old Trafford.
Amorim may not assume his new position until after the international break, meaning club chief Sir Jim Ratcliffe may not get his man for another four weeks.
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Sporting issued the following statement: “Manchester United has expressed an interest in hiring coach Ruben Amorim, with the Board of Directors of Sporting SAD referring to the terms and conditions set out in the employment contract in force between the Company and the coach, specifically the respective termination clause and the amount of 10m Euros.
“Manchester United has expressed an interest in paying Sporting SAD the amount of the aforementioned clause.”
Amorim broke his silence on the likelihood of taking over at Old Trafford during a press conference on Monday.
He said: “I was already expecting this question [about Man Utd] and obviously I’m not going to talk about the future, because otherwise I’ll always have to comment.
“I’m very proud to be Sporting coach, that’s all.”
United sacked Erik ten Hag after the club’s worst ever start in the Premier League era.
Ruben Amorim is ‘Mourinho 2.0’ who turned Sporting from ‘walking dead’ into Portuguese champs… he can revive Man Utd
WHEN Ruben Amorim took charge of Sporting Lisbon in March 2020, one club official compared their situation to the “walking dead”, writes Jordan Davies.
Optimism and hope was at an all-time low.
But the Amorim-effect was almost instantaneous, guiding the Portuguese sleeping giants to their first league title for 19 years in 2020/21, losing just once and only conceding 20 goals.
Since then, Sporting have lifted another league title in 2023/24 – as well as two League Cups – and currently sit top with nine wins from nine this term.
He may be young, but Amorim already has an eye for rebuilding and revitalising fallen super powers with his infectious charisma and intense tactical philosophy that hardly ever wavers.
The “walking dead” at Manchester United must be praying for a similar sort of revival.
And they may just get it from one of the most talented young coaches on the continent – a man accustomed to breathing new life back into crumbling institutions such as Old Trafford.
Amorim has spent the last decade dreaming of one day gracing England’s Premier League, such was his admiration for an ex-United boss in Jose Mourinho growing up.
Often nicknamed ‘Mourinho 2.0’, Amorim spent a week with his coaching idol in an internship capacity at United’s Carrington training base in 2018, going on to cite him as his “reference point”.
United should not be expecting a mini-Mourinho, as Amorim said himself: “Mourinho is one of a kind. There won’t be another Mourinho. Mourinho is unique.”
And yet, you cannot help but compare the two.
For all the mismanagement in the Old Trafford hot seats over the years, this would be a real get – finally a slap in the face United’s Prem rivals have no answer for.
