Amorim admits he rejected all clubs for Man Utd job

Jacque Talbot

• Updated: 2 Nov 2024 13:36 GMT
• 4 min read

Manchester United told Ruben Amorim it was "now or never" after their incoming head coach requested to delay his exit from Sporting CP.

The Portuguese boss asked if he could join at the end of the season before agreeing to join United this month.

Earlier this week, Erik ten Hag was sacked following a disappointing start to his third season in charge. And it was only a matter of days later when Amorim was announced as his successor. It's believed that he has agreed a contract until June 2027, with the option for a further year.

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Meanwhile, he won't get to work until Monday 11 November having overseen Sporting’s final matches as we head into the international break.

During a Sporting CP press conference on Friday, Amorim said: “I had a talk with the president (Frederico Varandas) and I said whatever happened this would be my last season with Sporting. The president is here. He can confirm that.

“The season started, we know that we started very well. and then this situation with Manchester United came.

“Manchester United appear, they pay above the compensation clause and the president defends the club’s interests. I never discussed anything with the president about this bargaining.

“The only question I made was only to go in the end of the season. For three days I said I wanted to stay until the end of the season, but then I was told it was not possible. “It was now or never, or Manchester would go for another option.

He continued: “I’ve had other opportunities – the president and (director of football) Hugo Viana can confirm this. It’s not the first or the second time that I have been requested by another team and I don’t want another team.

West Ham rebuff Amorim

Amorim was linked with a move to West Ham as their head coach but the club pulled away for various reasons. Ultimately, they opted to wait for the summer and then hire Julen Lopetegui instead.

The suggestion was that the Premier League outfit were not happy to pay the €10 million compensation fee the Portugal club wanted.

Amorim has spent his entire managerial career in Portugal, where he has coached three different clubs. Following his retirement from playing in 2016, he made his coaching debut in 2018 with Casa Pia, a club competing in Portugal’s lower divisions. He quickly moved up the ranks, taking on the managerial role at Braga, but it was not long there that he joined Sporting.

Under his leadership, Sporting won the Portuguese league title twice, ending an almost 20-year title drought and re-establishing themselves as a top force in Portuguese football.

Amorim has never managed outside of Portugal before but has coached three different teams in his homeland. After hanging his boots up in 2016, he started managing Casa Pia two years later, before moving to Braga and then Sporting CP. In his four years at the club, Amorim has won the Portuguese title twice after the club had previously gone almost two decades without winning their domestic league.

But the fact he has never managed outside the top-five leagues in Europe was the real reason that West Ham baulked at hiring him.