Sporting Lisbon’s head coach Ruben Amorim is a strong candidate for Manchester United’s new head coach.
10:41•Updated 10:53
The English football club Manchester United, which has been going through difficult times for several seasons, fired its head coach on Monday For Erik ten Hag.
United are currently in a modest 14th place in the Premier League.
The former United striker star acts as the interim head coach Ruud van Nistelrooywho led the team to a 5–2 win over Leicester in the League Cup on Wednesday night.
However, it could remain the Dutchman’s only match as United’s manager. Sporting Lisbon’s head coach is heavily speculated to be the new head coach Ruben Amorim.
United have been in contact with Amorim since early October. Now a transfer is considered probable. If the negotiations between the clubs go well, Amorim could be at United as early as Sunday’s match against Chelsea.
Sporting has confirmed that United have approached the club and are ready to pay a severance payment of 10 million euros.
The 39-year-old Amorim was a midfielder during his playing career, He played mainly for Belenenses and Benfica, where he won the Portuguese league championship three times. He represented Portugal at the 2010 and 2014 World Cups.
As a coach at the main league level, Amorim started at Braga in 2019. He moved to Sporting in 2020 and led the club to the Portuguese champions in the spring of 2021 and 2024. Sporting leads the league this season as well.
At Sporting, Amorim has often used a 3–4–3 formation. Without the ball, the team plays aggressively and quickly counterattacks. Manchester United captain Bruno Fernandes praised Amorim last year.
– He has all the conditions to succeed in England, France or Spain. The Premier League is certainly the most desired, Fernandes said then.
The 39-year-old Amorim has attracted interest elsewhere. Liverpool came close to signing him in the summer but pulled out Arne Sloti. Manchester City have been thinking about him Pep Guardiola’s as a follower. Now, however, it seems that Manchester United would take a longer shot.
– The club talks to each other with the club. Then we take the next step with the coach. I’ll tell you later whether I want to leave or not, Amorim commented.
Two things could stand in the way of the agreement. The second is that Amorim would not want to leave Sporting in the middle of the season. The second is the contract value. Amorim does not want to be known as a coach who leaves his position in the middle of the season. It already happened when he moved from Braga to Sporting.