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Sporting Lisbon have announced that they have been approached by Manchester United for the services of Ruben Amorim – and that the Premier League club are happy to pay his £8.31million release clause.
The Portuguese giants released a statement this afternoon to the stock market confirming United’s intent to replace Erik ten Hag with their highly-rated head coach.
It added that Sporting’s directors informed the Old Trafford club of the terms of the 39-year-old’s contract ‘specifically the termination clause of €10,000,000’ and added that United ‘expressed an interest’ in paying that valuation.
Mail Sport understands that negotiations remain ongoing. It is thought one issue to be ironed out is over Amorim’s start date. United are keen to install him in time for Sunday’s visit against Chelsea but there remain a number of obstacles to overcome first.
A statement from the Portuguese club read: ‘1. Manchester United FC expressed interest in hiring coach Rúben Amorim, with the Board of Directors of Sporting SAD referring to the terms and conditions set out in the employment contract in force between the Company and the coach, specifically for the respective termination clause and for the amount of Euro 10,000,000.00;
‘2. Manchester United FC expressed interest in paying Sporting SAD the value of the aforementioned clause.’
Ten Hag guided United to their worst ever start to a Premier League season, and with three draws from winning positions in the Europa League from three games, results seemingly were not picking up.
Amorim, meanwhile, has earned plaudits in recent years for his exceptional work in the Portuguese capital, ended Sporting Club’s 19-year wait for a league title in 2020-21, before winning the top-flight again last year.
Sporting Lisbon are set to host Nacional in the Portuguese League Cup later tonight, with many speculating as to whether Amorim will be involved following the statement released by the club this afternoon.
Amorim – who had previously been asked about links to United in the wake of Ten Hag’s sacking – told the press he was focused on the job at hand ahead of this evening’s fixture.
‘I was already expecting this question and obviously I’m not going to talk about the future, because otherwise I’ll always have to comment. I’m very proud to be Sporting coach, that’s all.’
It’s understood that Amorim was planning to leave Sporting at the end of the season, but was made aware of United’s interest earlier this month and has had two rounds of talks.
Amorim has also been linked with Manchester City if Pep Guardiola leaves next summer after it was confirmed that Hugo Viana, his director of football at Sporting, will replace Txiki Begiristain in the same role at the Etihad last season.
But, it seems Old Trafford will be his likely destination, with the Red Devils eager to turn their form around given the club is lying 14th in the Premier League following Sunday’s defeat at West Ham, and in the bottom half of the Europa League.
Therefore, this evening’s fixture could mark Amorim’s final match in charge of Sporting Lisbon, with Portuguese newspaper Record reporting the 39-year-old could then travel to England on Wednesday.
Meanwhile, it’s understood that the decision to sack Ten Hag was collective and unanimous, even though sources say it was ‘a difficult and finely balanced’ one.
They claim that the United hierarchy wanted continuity following wholesale changes to the leadership team and backroom staff in the summer, and gave Ten Hag all the support they could to succeed, but did not see enough evidence of progress to convince them the team was on the right path.
Source:www.dailymail.co.uk
