Summary:
- Ruben Amorim remains undecided on joining Manchester United.
- The club is willing to meet his €10 million (£8.3 million) release clause.
- Amorim confirmed he’ll lead Sporting CP training on Wednesday, but his future beyond that is unclear.
Sporting CP manager Ruben Amorim stated he has not yet made a decision on his future following Manchester United’s approach to appoint him as manager following ten Hags sacking on Monday.
Amorim: “I Don’t Know If It’s the Farewell Game or Not.”
While Sporting confirmed on Tuesday that United is prepared to pay Amorim’s €10 million (£8.3 million) release clause, the 39-year-old Lisbon-born is yet to make a final decision.
After Sporting’s 3-1 Portuguese League Cup win over Nacional, Amorim told Sport TV,
Nothing is decided yet. I don’t know if it’s the farewell game or not.
He later spoke during a press conference, explaining that while “there is interest from Manchester United” and “the payment of a contract term”, he will return and openly disclose “his position” once he has “something more solid”.
“It will be my choice“, the manager who retired from his professional player (midfielder) career in 2017 added.
The manager who started his coaching career at Casa Pia in 2018, prior to resigning in 2018 following a dispute with the Portuguese Football Federation, went on to comment that he does not have “everything decided, for one side or the other”, so he “can’t tell much more“.
Nonetheless, the third-most expensive manager ever who was appointed Sporting’s manager in March 2020 for a managerial transfer of €10 million (£8.65 million) confirmed he will attend training on Wednesday to prepare for Friday’s game against Estrela da Amadora.
Asked if he would be on United’s bench at Old Trafford for their game against Chelsea on Sunday, Amorim replied, “I will be here” but added, “I don’t know” when pressed.
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Guardiola Sees Amorim As a “High Manager”
Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola praised Amorim, reminiscing their experience of playing twice against Sporting “one or two seasons ago, and the pressure was really, really good“.
The Spaniard went on to talk about Amorim’s “unbeaten” season who is “winning all the games in the Portuguese League and the Champions League”, with the club having the same number of points as Manchester City.
Guardiola called Amorim “a high manager” while acknowledging what happened in his experience may not work “for the other ones” and mentioning that “the manager, the team, the club, the structures, the physios, the doctors, the players” are all to be taken into account.
During his time with Sporting, Amorim guided the club to a double of the Taça da Liga and the Primeira Liga, putting an end to the latter’s 19-year league title drought.
The achievements brought him the prestigious Primeira Liga’s Manager of the Year award for the 2020–21 season.
Amorim also scooped up another Primeira Liga title in the 2023–24 season.
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