MANCHESTER UNITED have been ordered to pay another £4million in their bid to land Sporting Lisbon coach Ruben Amorim.
United have already agreed to pay the £8.3million release clause in Amorim’s contract.
But now, the Portuguese giants want extra cash to release three trusted members of Amorim’s backroom staff
The 39-year-old wants to take Sporting’s assistant manager Adelio Candido, assistant coach Carlos Fernandes and goalkeeper coach Jorge Vital with him to Old Trafford.
Sporting are believed to be surprised that Amorim wants to take all three coaches. So they now want United to pay another £4.1m (€5m).
United remain hopeful they will complete a deal before Sunday’s home Premier League game with Chelsea.
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But whether Amorim is in the dugout remains to be seen and caretaker Ruud Van Nistelrooy could still be in charge for that game with the new arrival watching from the stands.
Amorim was in the dugout for Sporting’s 3-1 win over Nacional in the Portuguese league cup quarterfinal last night.
Sporting fans gave their gaffer a mixed reception with supporters split on the rumours of his potential exit from Lisbon.
The tactician headed straight down the tunnel at full-time, not acknowledging the support.
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While he refused to open up on his future in his post-match press conference.
He said: “Nothing to say yet, no announcement to make. Now I have nothing to say, we are here carrying out analysis.
“Everything I say will only create more noise. There is nothing to say about the matter. There is the statement, everyone knows. It was said by the club.
“Besides, we don’t know the details for sure. We’ll see. It will go through my decision as the statement said. But saying half things now doesn’t seem best to me.”
Ruben Amorim is ‘Mourinho 2.0’ who turned Sporting from ‘walking dead’ into Portuguese champs… he can revive Man Utd
WHEN Ruben Amorim took charge of Sporting Lisbon in March 2020, one club official compared their situation to the “walking dead”, writes Jordan Davies.
Optimism and hope was at an all-time low.
But the Amorim-effect was almost instantaneous, guiding the Portuguese sleeping giants to their first league title for 19 years in 2020/21, losing just once and only conceding 20 goals.
Since then, Sporting have lifted another league title in 2023/24 – as well as two League Cups – and currently sit top with nine wins from nine this term.
He may be young, but Amorim already has an eye for rebuilding and revitalising fallen super powers with his infectious charisma and intense tactical philosophy that hardly ever wavers.
The “walking dead” at Manchester United must be praying for a similar sort of revival.
And they may just get it from one of the most talented young coaches on the continent – a man accustomed to breathing new life back into crumbling institutions such as Old Trafford.
Amorim has spent the last decade dreaming of one day gracing England’s Premier League, such was his admiration for an ex-United boss in Jose Mourinho growing up.
Often nicknamed ‘Mourinho 2.0’, Amorim spent a week with his coaching idol in an internship capacity at United’s Carrington training base in 2018, going on to cite him as his “reference point”.
United should not be expecting a mini-Mourinho, as Amorim said himself: “Mourinho is one of a kind. There won’t be another Mourinho. Mourinho is unique.”
And yet, you cannot help but compare the two.
For all the mismanagement in the Old Trafford hot seats over the years, this would be a real get – finally a slap in the face United’s Prem rivals have no answer for.
Source: Soccer - thesun.co.uk
