RUBEN AMORIM could be Manchester United’s new manager by Sunday after the club agreed to pay his £8.3million release fee from Sporting Lisbon.
The Portuguese coach — plus three of his backroom staff — are expected to fly in to Manchester for advanced talks, just two days after Erik ten Hag’s sacking.
Ex-United boss Jose Mourinho and Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola have both endorsed Amorim, 39, even though he only became a coach five years ago.
Sporting yesterday confirmed: “Manchester United have expressed their interest in recruiting coach Ruben Amorim and have said they are ready to pay the 10m euro release clause.”
Ten Hag’s No 2 Ruud van Nistelrooy will take temporary charge for tonight’s home Carabao Cup tie against Leicester.
But Red Devils chief Sir Jim Ratcliffe is believed to want Amorim in charge for Sunday’s Prem clash with Chelsea at Old Trafford.
However, the in-demand coach would not be drawn on joining United when he spoke to reporters after Sporting’s 3-1 win over Nacional last night.
He refused to confirm if it was his “farewell game” as Sporting boss, adding: “Manchester United is interested. But it’s my choice. Until everything is decided, we won’t be making any noise.
“I have nothing useful to say. I will take on whatever I want to do, as I have always done.
“I’m not going to talk about my contract, it’s a matter between me and Sporting. All the clauses that exist in a contract are included by the employer and the employee. What I can say is that the statement contains all the necessary information.
“I can’t promise anything. What I know is that I will be at training tomorrow and I will prepare for the game against Estrela da Amadora (on Friday).
“We have to wait a little bit more to explain everything I need to explain, then it will be very clear.
“It is my decision, I will tell everything to so we have to wait.”
Amorim led Sporting to the Portuguese title last season and his team have won ALL of their first nine league games this season.
Mourinho, who sat in the United hotseat from 2016-18, claimed the Sporting boss would be able to handle a Prem move, insisting he was capable of managing “in any club”.
The Special One added: “I like him as a person, I like him as a coach.
“He has the conditions to be able to coach in any league and in any club.”
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Amorim had served an internship under Mourinho at United in 2018 before taking charge of lower-league Lisbon club Casa Pia the same year.
The ex-midfielder, who hung up his boots in 2016, joined Sporting in 2020, having impressed during a stint at Braga.
Ten Hag was dismissed on Monday morning with the club 14th in the Prem.
Guardiola also gave Amorim a glowing reference and said: “Why is it too quick? I started at Barcelona when I was 37. So knowledge is knowledge.
“If you are able, age doesn’t matter. If age was a reason, Lamine Yamal could not play football at 17 years old.”
Guardiola, who was due to face Amorim’s Sporting next week in the Champions League, added: “If Manchester United are thinking about him, it’s because he’s a good manager.”
City had been strongly linked with a move for Amorim if Guardiola quits at the end of the season — with the Lisbon club’s sporting director Hugo Viana heading to the Etihad this summer.
Sporting have lined up B team coach Joao Pereira as Amorim’s replacement.
Ruben Amorim leaves Sporting on a high
By Charlie Wyett
RUBEN AMORIM would have preferred to leave Lisbon in a blaze of glory after winning a third Primeira Liga title.
Yet football does not work like that. And in what was surely his final game before taking charge of Manchester United, Amorim prepared to say his goodbyes at a half-empty Estadio Jose Alvalade in a League Cup quarter-final against Nacional.
Sporting won 3-1 thanks to second-half goals by captain Morten Hjulmand and Viktor Gyokeres, who scored two.
Luis Esteves pulled back for Madeira-based Nacional.
The stadium will be a good deal more lively on Tuesday when Manchester City are here for a Champions League match — although Amorim should by then have his feet firmly under his desk at Old Trafford.
Liverpool and Aston Villa were both interested in Europe’s most sought-after coach. Even City could have been a possible destination post-Pep Guardiola.
Yet the United job is one Amorim, 39, could not turn down — even if not everyone saw it that way at Sporting last night.
There is clearly a huge split in the Portuguese club’s fan base over their coach leaving at this stage of the season with many believing he should have seen the job through.
Yet Amorim, along with the three-man coaching team who are expected to follow him, leaves a club in a much better state than when he arrived here in 2020.
Inside the stadium, there was applause — albeit muted — when his name was read out before the game along with the line-ups.
And there did not appear to be any jeers when Amorim shuffled out from the tunnel awkwardly towards the dugout.
So, while his departure is hard to take for some, none of the fans will forget his legacy.
This is a club which is back as the dominant force in Portugal. Even this term, Sporting have won their first nine league games, scoring 30 goals and conceding just two.
They are also eighth in the Champions League table, which is one hell of an effort.
In contrast, Lisbon was not exactly hit by League Cup fever last night.
Amorim made lots of changes, which saw Sporting’s star man Gyokeres, the former Coventry striker, start on the bench.
There was, however, a first appearance in six weeks for former Tottenham winger Marcus Edwards.
He is certainly one player who has been transformed by Amorim since arriving at the club from Vitoria in 2022 and will be sorry to see the coach leave.
While he changed his team, Amorim stuck with his tried and trusted formation of a back three.
It will certainly be something Manchester United’s fans will have to get used to over the coming months.
But looking at the Premier League table, none of them will be complaining about the change.
