Manchester United were closing in on Rúben Amorim’s appointment as the club’s new manager on Monday night after Erik ten Hag was sacked earlier in the day.
Amorim, the Sporting No 1, had been thought minded to stay at the Portuguese champions due to a desire to claim a second title in succession, the club having last achieved this 70 years ago.
But after the 39-year-old was identified as United’s favoured candidate, he welcomed an approach by the executive and was in discussions on Monday evening to succeed Ten Hag. Amorim, who has a €10 million release clause, had been one of the favourites to replace Jürgen Klopp as the Liverpool manager in the summer, before the Merseyside club ultimately made Arne Slot the German’s successor.
Earlier this year, Amorim also flew to London for discussions with West Ham to take over from David Moyes as the manager. He later apologised publicly for this at a press conference and called it a “mistake”.
Manchester City were also interested in Amorim as a potential replacement for Pep Guardiola if he decided to depart the champions at the end of the season.
Amorim is in the fifth year of his career as a head coach. In a first season of management at Braga, he claimed the 2019-20 Taca de Liga, before taking over at Sporting and has since claimed two Premeira Ligas and two more Taca de Ligas.
He is considered an astute tactician and a clever man-manager who would hope to effect an immediate turnaround in United’s fortunes. They are currently in 14th place in the Premier League with 11 points from nine games with a goal difference of -3.
In the Europa League, United are 21st, with three draws from their opening three matches. Although United are six points behind Aston Villa in fourth place, if Amorim is appointed, his prospects of leading the team to a Champion League berth would mean a massive upturn in the team’s performances and results, with only eight goals scored so far in the league.
On Wednesday night, United host Leicester City in the Carabao Cup but whether Amorim will be in place by then is unclear.
Immediately after removing Ten Hag, United appointed his assistant, Ruud van Nistelrooy, as the interim manager, as he is expected to take charge of the side against Leicester.
United sacked Ten Hag in the wake of Sunday’s 2-1 defeat at West Ham which meant this is one of the club’s poorest starts to a Premier League season.
The Sir Jim Ratcliffe-led football department decided there were no longer any excuses for the dismal form and informed Ten Hag at the training ground on Monday morning.
A club statement said: “Erik ten Hag has left his role as Manchester United men’s first-team manager. Erik was appointed in April 2022 and led the club to two domestic trophies, winning the Carabao Cup in 2023 and the FA Cup in 2024.
“We are grateful to Erik for everything he has done during his time with us and wish him well for the future. Ruud van Nistelrooy will take charge of the team as interim head coach, supported by the current coaching team, whilst a permanent head coach is recruited.”
United were intent on giving Ten Hag time as they wanted as much continuity amid a period of change at the club.
It was hoped he would work closely with the new sporting director, Dan Ashworth, and technical director, Jason Wilcox, to turn the club around after finishing eighth last season but there proved no improvement.
The decision is the most significant made by Ratcliffe and his allies since his company Ineos took a minority stake in the club. United’s eighth-place finish last season was their lowest in the league since 1990, and this campaign there has only been four wins in 13 matches in all competitions.
At the start of September the United chief executive, Omar Berrada, and Ashworth publicly threw support behind Ten Hag. Berrada said: “Do we still believe in Erik? Absolutely. We think Erik is the right coach for us and we’re fully backing him.”
Three days later, however, the Guardian reported that his “game model” was being scrutinised.
Ten Hag had also been under intense pressure at the end of last term but oversaw victory against Manchester City in the FA Cup final and retained his job after United held talks with a number of candidates before signing a two-year contract extension.
Those the club held discussions with included Thomas Tuchel, who ruled himself out of the role and was subsequently appointed as head coach of the England national team. Other potential successors had included Thomas Frank and the former England manager, Gareth Southgate.
Amorim has, however, jumped to the front of the queue with the club in advanced talks.
Ten Hag left Ajax to succeed the interim manager Ralf Rangnick at United ahead of the 2022-23 season and after extending his contract, Ten Hag was backed in the transfer market with a £200 million spend in the summer.
Matthijs De Ligt, Noussair Mazraoui, Joshua Zirkzee and Manuel Ugarte all joined the club for large fees but none have looked settled since arriving. Questions have also been raised regarding some of Ten Hag’s previous signings, with the £85.6 million spent on bringing Antony with him from Ajax viewed as a particular failure.
In Ten Hag’s first campaign United finished third, 14 points from the top, and won the Carabao Cup, beating Newcastle in the final. – Guardian
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