MANCHESTER UNITED will get Ruben Amorim out of his Sporting Lisbon contract for £16.5million less than other clubs would have to pay thanks to a shock clause, according to reports.
The club decided to sack Erik ten Hag yesterday after a disastrous start to the season left them languishing in 14th in the Premier League table.
Ruud van Nistelrooy has landed the job on an interim basis – but the Red Devils are moving fast to appoint Amorim as their new boss.
The 39-year-old has reportedly verbally agreed to join Man Utd and is already deep in talks.
Amorim’s deal at Sporting expires in 2026 – yet reports state he was planning to quit at the end of this season.
Newspaper A Bola claims he has three different release clauses in his contract.
Another Portuguese club would have to pay £25m for his services – while that figure drops to £17m for sides outside his homeland.
But there is also supposedly a “sharks” agreement that makes it easier for Europe’s elite to afford him.
The clause allows clubs like Real Madrid, Bayern Munich, Barcelona, Juventus, Liverpool, Manchester City and United to activate Amorim’s release for just £8.5m.
That means Sir Jim Ratcliffe is getting his man for £16.5m less than the other clubs like Porto or Benfica have to pay.
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And £8m less than West Ham would have had to fork out if their talks with the boss were successful in the summer.
But with the price of sacking Ten Hag setting United back £15m, the cost of the managerial change will be a whopping £23.5m.
On heading to Old Trafford, Amorim said last night: “I was already expecting this question 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.”
It has also been reported that United spoke with ex-Barcelona boss Xavi and considered both Brentford’s Thomas Frank and former Chelsea boss Graham Potter as options before choosing Amorim.
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