Manchester United have confirmed Sporting Lisbon’s Ruben Amorim as their new head coach.
The Portuguese will officially start on Monday, November 11, with Ruud van Nistelrooy, who will take interim charge following Ten Hag’s departure on Monday and will remain at the helm for the upcoming matches with Chelsea, PAOK and Leicester City.
Amorim has signed a contract until 2027 with the option of a further year, with his first match taking place at Ipswich Town on November 24.
The composition of Amorim’s backroom staff has yet to be confirmed.
The Athletics reported on Thursday that the two clubs had agreed a deal for the 39-year-old to replace Erik ten Hag, who was fired after two and a half years at the club.
Portugal’s financial regulator later confirmed that United have agreed to pay €11 million (£9.25 million; $11.95 million) to release Amorim from his contract ahead of his 30-day notice period, following face-to-face negotiations in Lisbon led by CEO Omar Berrada. .
Amorim has built a reputation as one of Europe’s most highly regarded young coaches with a track record of being an astute tactician and working well with young players.
He was appointed Sporting head coach in 2020 and won the Primeira Liga title – the club’s first league title in 19 years – in his first full season in charge in 2020-2021.
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Sporting won the league again last season and Amorim also won the Taca da Liga, the Portuguese League Cup, twice with Sporting and a third time with his previous club, Braga.
This season, Sporting top the table with a perfect record of nine wins from nine games, with 30 goals scored and just two conceded. They also sit eighth in the revamped Champions League competition stage, after two wins and a draw.
Amorim was a contender to replace Jurgen Klopp at Liverpool in the summer before Arne Slot ultimately got the job. He also held talks about replacing David Moyes at West Ham, before later apologizing and calling the meeting “a mistake”.
Amorim has won two Portuguese league titles with Sporting (Carlos Rodrigues/Getty Images)
Amorim was keen to ensure a satisfying departure from Sporting and was aware of the bond he had built with the supporters during his four years in charge.
Ahead of Sporting’s match with Estrela Amadora on Friday evening, Amorim refused to reveal too many details about his impending departure.
“It is a negotiation between two clubs. It’s never easy. Even with the clauses it is never easy. They need to talk,” he told reporters.
“We will get clarification after the match. It will be very clear, so tomorrow is another day after the match and then the decision will be made.”
Ten Hag’s departure came after Sunday’s defeat against West Ham United, which left the Old Trafford club fourteenth in the Premier League.
He was appointed in April 2022 and led United to the Carabao Cup in his first season in charge and the FA Cup in May.
The former Ajax head coach was hired by the United hierarchy this summer following an end-of-season review, but only after they had sounded out a number of potential replacements.
Despite his contract being extended in June and the club having spent around £205 million, including extras, on new players, Ten Hag left having won just four of United’s fourteen games this season.
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Why is Amorim in such high demand?
Analysis by senior data analyst Mark Carey
Ruben Amorim is a manager who has been linked with a host of jobs in recent months, and you can see why the 39-year-old is in high demand.
Amorim guided Sporting to its first league title in nineteen years in 2021-2022, followed it up with another win last season and has nine wins out of nine, with Sporting well at the top of the Primeira Liga this season.
Even taking into account the uneven quality of the Primeira Liga, a team that statistically had one of the best attacks (chance creation, 95 out of 99) and the best defenses (chance prevention, 97 out of 99), it appears that their manager must have a positive effect.
Stylistically, Amorim’s 3-4-3 – or more specifically a 3-4-2-1 – is built on high ball possession, flexible attacking approaches and a strong defensive base.
The arrival of striker Viktor Gyokeres last season led to a more transitional, direct attacking style (Patient Attack, 49 out of 99). It also highlights Amorim’s ability to maximize his style by adapting to the skills of his players.
Amorim has shown his desire to bring young talent into the first team – including Goncalo Inacio, Matheus Nunes, Nuno Mendes and Ousmane Diomande – and has improved the quality of the team with the resources at his disposal.
Bruno Fernandes moved to Manchester United just over a month before Amorim’s appointment, but Mendes (to Paris Saint-Germain), Nunes (Wolverhampton Wanderers), Pedro Porro (Tottenham Hotspur), Manuel Ugarte (also to PSG) and Joao Palhinha (Fulham ) are among the talented players that Amorim improved before selling them at a high cost.
Title-winning references? Finch. Develop young players? Finch. Improve the performance of individual players? Finch. There are reasons why Amorim is so sought after among Europe’s elite.
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(Top photo: Carlos Rodrigues/Getty Images)