As you might expect, reports suggesting Ruben Amorim is on his way to Manchester United has incurred quite the emotional reaction from Sporting Lisbon.
This is, after all, a man who guided the perennial underachievers of Portuguese football to their first Primeira Liga title since the days of a buck-toothed and blonde-tipped Cristiano Ronaldo. After 19 years without domestic glory, another championship would arrive soon after.
And as Ruben Amorim leads Sporting to a record run of nine successive wins at the start of 2024/25 – plus an unbeaten start in the revamped Champions League – it appears that the inevitable has finally arrived.
Amorim appears on the verge of replacing Erik ten Hag at Manchester United. Reporter Ben Jacobs claims that he has already verbally agreed to take over at Old Trafford.
Now, even the most optimistic, glass-half-full Sporting supporter would have known that this day was coming. But only a few months into their title defence, Amorim’s departure – if indeed the time has come – is hardly happening at an ideal moment.
Manchester United are closing in, with the 39-year-old potentially to be unveiled before this weekend’s clash with Chelsea.
Ruben Amorim’s Manchester United move would shake Sporting Lisbon
“Few things could shake The Lions like what has happened in the last few hours,” writes Luis Pedro Ferreira in his A Bola column.
“But the departure of Ruben Amorim is the factor that could change everything in a championship in which The Lions have been overwhelming.
“With the club stable and the team demolishing domestic opponents, not even the departure of Hugo Viana [the sporting director heading to Man City] affected their campaign.
“Only something very big could change things. And Manchester United are huge.”
Record claim that Ruben Amorim – a former Portugal international who also guided Sporting to two Portuguese cups – is now just ‘one step away’ from putting pen to paper with Manchester United.
And Ferreira believes that, as soon as news of Erik ten Hag’s sacking broke on Monday, the Sporting fans would have expected to see their talismanic head coach emerge as a man in high demand.
Portuguese reporter explains why Amorim is right for Man United
“Sporting fans must have reacted with suspicion because, after all, they know what they have on the bench,” the reporter adds. “And [the Sporting supporters know that] Ruben Amorim is the kind of coach that Manchester United needs.
“Make no mistake; the Red Devils are one of the biggest clubs in the world. With a new management, United need a coach who knows how to turn things around. Someone who understands what a big club is, who can unite in communication and produce football that gets results.
“On paper, Ruben is right.”
Ferreira also draws comparisons between the job Amorim would inherit at Old Trafford and the one he took at the Estadio Jose Alvalade back in 2020. A historic, high-pressure club desperate to reclaim their place at the summit after falling so far down the mountain.
“History is almost repeating itself, with United pushing to take the coach who once again finds himself wanting a bigger club,” Ferreira concludes. “Manchester United need a coach now because, just as Amorim did when he arrived at Alvalade, they need to win the future.
“Arriving at Old Trafford would be applying the same formula.”
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