The Portuguese coach will start his new role in 10 days’ time, and face his first match in three weeks.

Manchester United acted quickly to secure their top managerial target after Erik ten Hag’s dismissal.

Within hours of the Dutchman being sacked, a United delegation was on their way to Portugal to speak to bosses at Sporting Lisbon. Ruben Amorim had been identified as the top target, but securing his services was not going to be easy.

That’s partly because Sporting have big ambitions themselves this season. The reigning league champions have won all nine games in Liga Portugal and currently sit in the automatic Champions League qualification positions.

That Hugo Viana’s appointment across the city has recently been confirmed also complicated matters, plus a relatively hefty severance package for Amorim and his staff. The compensation for Amorim alone is understood to be €10m.

But the young manager wanted this role and there was always a sense United would get their man. That was the case with Omar Berrada and Dan Ashworth despite the waits for both to start their roles.

There will be a similar delay in Amorim starting, with the 39-year-old not set to begin until Monday 11 November, 13 days before his first match in charge, which comes away at Ipswich Town.

United were certain that Amorim was their first choice, six months on from interviewing a plethora of possible replacements for Ten Hag that included Thomas Tuchel and Mauricio Pochettino.

Neither are available now and whether that was a factor is unclear. But for now, there is no denying United are thrilled to lure Amorim to Old Trafford. In the eyes of United officials - and executives at other top European clubs - Amorim is one of the most exciting young managers on the continent.

He’s a proven winner, as his two Portuguese league titles show, and has worked in a sporting structure before. That was important to Ineos.

Amorim’s offensive style of play, personality, energetic approach and ability to develop young players were also seen as important characteristics. He’s also viewed as a different profile to other previous managers such as the relatively stern Ten Hag, Jose Mourinho and Louis van Gaal, while he has more tactical acumen that Ole Gunnar Solskjaer.

All of Amorim’s predecessors ultimately failed to get United back to the top of English football. Supporters will hope that the sixth permanent manager in the post-Sir Alex Ferguson era fares better.