Manchester United have a new boss in Ruben Amorim but Ineos seemingly made a substantial offer to one manager over the summer.
The Ruben Amorim era is finally about to start at Manchester United.
It’s now more than a week since United confirmed the appointment of Amorim, luring him away from Sporting as a replacement for Erik ten Hag.
Amorim has been allowed to continue as Sporting boss until the international break though and his final game comes against Braga on Sunday evening.
Amorim saw his Sporting side blow Manchester City away in midweek, becoming the first team to score four against Manchester City in the Champions League since 2016.
United fans are understandably excited about Amorim and Ineos will hope to see him shine in the Old Trafford dugout.
Roberto De Zerbi claims Manchester United contract
Ineos moved quickly to land Amorim as Ten Hag’s replacement, appointing him just days after the Dutchman’s sacking.
United did though explore potential appointments over the summer with Ten Hag’s position up for review.
The Athletic claimed in June that United had discussed contract terms with Roberto De Zerbi before deciding to keep Ten Hag after all.
De Zerbi surprisingly left Brighton at the end of last season and was in United’s thinking before he eventually took the Marseille job.
L’Equipe now claim that De Zerbi has taken a rather surprising approach with his Marseille players.
As relayed by Get French Football News, it’s stated that De Zerbi has shown his squad the contract offer from United, received over the summer.
De Zerbi ‘used an overhead projector’ to show the money United were offering him, highlighting to his players that he came to Marseille for passion rather than money.
“This is where I could have been, but I put my passion before money. I came to Marseille for the passion,” De Zerbi is claimed to have said.
Ineos may have had a lucky escape with De Zerbi
De Zerbi impressed in charge of Brighton but his time at Marseille has been a little mixed.
The Italian sits third in the Ligue 1 table with 20 points from 11 games, which isn’t a terrible record.
However, the 3-1 home defeat to Auxerre on Friday has sparked chaos with De Zerbi even offering to quit his job.
This is the volatile nature of De Zerbi; a brilliant coach at his best but a manager who can bring a manic presence all on his own.
That isn’t really what United need in the dugout right now and Ineos will feel very comfortable with Amorim in the dugout rather than De Zerbi.
Receive a digest of our best United content each week direct to your mailbox
