1 month ago
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RUBEN AMORIM accepts he is a nightmare for the press officers who sit next to him at each media conference.
They often want him to stop talking but here is a man who does not believe that silence is golden.
Ruben Amorim was refreshingly honest in his press conference on Friday nightEPA
EPAThis is why he will be enormously entertaining once he gets his feet under the table at Old Trafford.
Although Amorim has never been one to criticise referees, you still get the feeling the Portuguese will talk himself into trouble over other issues once he is properly settled in English football.
Admittedly, in his first press conference since being confirmed as United manager — after the outgoing Sporting Lisbon boss oversaw a 5-1 win over Estrela Amadora on Friday — he refused to speak about his new employers in Manchester.
He also avoided talking about facing Manchester City, Sporting’s Champions League opponents on Tuesday.
Nevertheless, speaking 11 hours after the Red Devils announced his appointment, Amorim delivered a string of fascinating soundbites, most of which were completely unprompted.
He also apologised to Sporting’s media man, sitting to his right, for ignoring the club’s pleas during the week for him to not to talk to the media about the speculation with United.
Amorim, 39, has agreed a £6.5million-a-year deal at United but — remarkably — has claimed he turned down THREE TIMES that amount from another club who met his £8.3m buy-out clause.
He spoke to West Ham and Liverpool in the summer but they did not make a firm offer.
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While his claim of being offered nearly £20m a season surprised even the most well-briefed Sporting journalists, the feeling is that this club could have been Chelsea, who spoke to Amorim in 2023.
But £20m a year would have been a huge amount, even by their money-is-no-object standards.
During his 30-minute press conference, Amorim seemed more serious compared to his previous media appearances during the week.
You can imagine what he might look like after a season in Manchester if things do not go to plan.
Amorim insisted that he was only ever interested in United — although he was bound to say that.
He then revealed he wanted to remain in Lisbon and move to the Premier League at the end of this season.
United said it had to be now and you could hardly blame them.
Amorim also revealed he told Sporting at the start of the season that this would be his last year at the club.
But despite the approach of United after the sacking of Erik ten Hag, Amorim conceded it was still not a straightforward decision to leave Sporting and he agonised over taking the plunge.
He said: “United came along, paid the clause, above the clause, and the chairman defended his interests.
“The only request I made to United was that it would be at the end of the season and they told me that wasn’t possible, that it was now or never.
“I had three days to decide on something that would completely change my life. It’s not the first time that I’ve had my clause paid by another club.
“Nor is it the second. It’s very hard for me to leave.
“The club knew that if I rejected it, I wouldn’t have it in six months.
“And I knew that in six months I would know that I wouldn’t be at Sporting. The only club that I wanted, and that moved me, was United.
“It got to a point where I had to decide — and I did. Now I’m going home much more relaxed.
“I would earn three times more with the last club that offered to pay my clause. I gave everything I had for the club.
“I changed my mind several times. My concern is not to harm the Sporting team. And we’ll see later. I’ll have that concern when I’m at United.”
After the midweek Champions League clash against City, Amorim will head to his former club Braga next Sunday when he will wave goodbye to Portuguese football for now.
He heads to Manchester a week tomorrow and that will be the day Sporting plan to name their next manager, which is expected to be B team boss Joao Pereira.
While there remains some anger at the timing of Amorim’s departure, many Sporting fans have taken the news well.
And the majority gave him a good reception before and after Friday’s 5-1 Primeira Liga win.
And he has certainly left Sporting in a good place. Having already won the title twice, they are top with a 100 per cent record from ten games. They are also unbeaten in the Champions League after three games and are in eighth spot.
Amorim added: “I’m leaving here today feeling much more relieved. I was a little surprised by the fans’ reaction.
“But I’m more relieved that everything is clearer now. My smile is always there but it’s a difficult time.”
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.
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