1 month ago
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MANCHESTER UNITED have handed Ruben Amorim a different job title to Erik ten Hag.
Amorim, 39, was announced as the new Red Devils boss on Friday.
RexThe club said he would takeover the position on November 11, at the start of the next international break.
However, the two-time league winner with Sporting CP has already made history at United with his job title, which is different to any of his predecessors.
Rather than being called a “manager”, United’s statement labelled him as a “head coach”.
This marks a shift at United following the arrival of Ineos and the introduction of a true footballing structure, headed by Dan Ashworth as sporting director.
It is the first time ever United have called the person managing the men’s team a head coach, rather than a manager.
Every manager appointed prior to Ineos’ arrival had been announced by the club as a “manager”.
When Erik ten Hag had his contract extended in the summer, he retained the power of a transfer veto.
But with his new title, Amorim has not.
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However, Man Utd Women boss Marc Skinner was handed the title “head coach” when he joined in 2021, while Casey Stoney had also been named a head coach when she arrived in 2019.
The club’s statement on Amorim’s appointment said: “Manchester United is delighted to announce the appointment of Ruben Amorim as Head Coach of the men’s first team, subject to work visa requirements.
“He will join until June 2027 with a club option of an additional year, once he has fulfilled his obligations to his current club. He will join Manchester United on Monday 11 November.
“Ruben is one of the most exciting and highly rated young coaches in European football.
“Highly decorated as both a player and coach, his titles include winning the Primeira Liga twice in Portugal with Sporting CP; the first of which was the club’s first title in 19 years.”
Amorim’s first game in charge of United will be an away trip to Ipswich.
The statement also confirmed that Ruud van Nistelrooy would continue in his role as Interim manager.
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.
Initially arriving as an assistant to Ten Hag, the Dutchman led the team to a 5-2 win over Leicester in the League Cup midweek.
He has pleaded with Amorim to find room to keep him in the coaching staff, declaring he is willing to serve the club in “any capacity”.
SunSport understands that United have paid £900,000 to bring Amorim in early, rather than wait three more weeks for his 30-day notice period to expire.
The Red Devils have paid £8.3million to release him from his contract at Sporting, and are set to pay an extra £4m for his staff.
Amorim will return to Old Trafford for the first time since 2018, when he completed an internship at the club under his idol Jose Mourinho.
SunSport has exclusively revealed that Amorim has already made plans for his first transfer signing.
Amorim wants to poach one of his Sporting stars to join United, £70m-rated 20-year-old defender Ousmane Diomande.
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