Ruben Amorim to Man Utd: How much will he cost, Mourinho links & why talks with Liverpool & West Ham failed

Manchester United are edging closer to the appointment of highly-rated Sporting Lisbon head coach Ruben Amorim as they seek to swiftly appoint a successor to Erik ten Hag after his exit on Monday.

An official statement from the Portuguese side earlier today signalled Manchester United’s interest in Amorim and their desire to appoint him with immediate effect.

Manchester World understands negotiations between Amorim and the 13-time Premier League champions are already at an advanced stage. Adding that the 39-year-old could fly to Manchester as early as Wednesday and possibly even be in attendance for the team’s Carabao Cup round-of-16 clash with Leicester City as Ruud van Nistelrooy takes temporary charge.

Amorim has long been regarded as one of the best up and coming managers in European football, with the likes of Liverpool and West Ham United both showing immense interest in appointing the Sporting boss over the summer.

But who is Ruben Amorim, how much compensation will Manchester United have to pay to secure his signature and why did his negotiations with other Premier League side’s fail to materialise? 

Here’s all you need to know.

Who is Ruben Amorim?

Ruben Amorim is a former Belenenses, Benfica and Braga midfielder who enjoyed a 13-year playing career which spanned between 2003 and 2016. He was capped 14 times for Portugal and was included in the squad which competed in the 2014 World Cup.

After his retirement he was invited by Jose Mourinho to work with him in an internship during his time at Manchester United where has since described him as his ‘apprentice.’

Mourinho described Amorim as having the qualities to coach in any league to a high standard. 

“I like the person and I like the coach.” Mourinho explained.”

Amorim began his coaching career in 2018 and has enjoyed a rapid and eventful ascent to the top of European football.

He spent the first two years of his career coaching third-division side Casa Pia before taking a similar role at Braga B. He won eight of his 11 games with Braga’s youngsters before being thrust into their first-team dugout in January 2020 at a time when they were eighth in the league and struggling for form.

In his first game in charge he guided the team to a 7-1 victory over Belenenses and three weeks later he helped the team to a domestic League Cup final triumph over FC Porto.

After winning 10 of his first 13 games in a highly productive start at the Estádio Municipal de Braga he was poached by a Sporting team searching for their fifth permanent manager in two years.

In his first few months at Sporting, he guided the team to a fourth place finish but was praised for injecting a sense of identity that had been lacking at the club for several seasons. In his first full campaign, he spearheaded the team to a first league title in 19 years and a League Cup trophy despite the midseason loss of Bruno Fernandes.

The capital club lifted the League Cup again a year later, whilst qualifying for the knockout stages of the Champions League but narrowly missed out on the league title, a difficult fourth place finish followed before the club regained the title last season with an incredible 90 points - losing just two of their 34 matches.

He has also started this campaign in perfect fashion with nine wins from nine league matches.

How much will Ruben Amorim cost Manchester United?

Manchester United are actively working on a deal to appoint Ruben Amorim and are prepared to pay the £8.3m release clause in his contract.

Amorim has already said yes to the Man Utd proposal and project, according to Fabrizio Romano.

Why Ruben Amorim’s talks with Liverpool and West Ham broke down

Ruben Amorim was earmarked as a potential successor to Jurgen Klopp at Anfield before the Liverpool hierarchy eventually settled on the appointment of Arne Slot.

Reports at the time speculated that the compensation required to appoint Amorim was a decisive factor in Liverpool’s decision, but Sky Sports reporter Melissa Reddy claims that it was more down to the 39-year-old’s style of play. with the coach prepared to stick with his favoured 3-4-3 setup.

Sky Sports explained in April: “Amorim was definitely on Liverpool’s shortlist, but despite all the external noise, he was never a leading candidate or the preferred candidate.

“The clubs made that pretty clear.

“Liverpool were saying ‘very good, we like him’, and he had ticked quite a few of the criteria to get onto the shortlist, but the biggest sticking point was the fact that his playing philosophy is so different.

“He likes to use three at the back – that doesn’t really stack up with Liverpool’s squad and their comfort in doing that.”

talkSPORT, meanwhile claims Amorim had actually agreed terms to replace David Moyes at West Ham.

However, David Sullivan allegedly got cold feet over paying Amorim’s release clause, and was hesitant to put pen to paper on bringing him to the London Stadium because of the sheer volume of staff the 39-year-old wanted to bring with him.

Amorim apologise to Sporting fans at the time for meeting West Ham midway through a title race.