Manchester United working to land Sporting Lisbon’s Ruben Amorim as Erik ten Hag’s successor, per report

Manchester United are reportedly working on a deal to hire Sporting Lisbon’s Ruben Amorim as the team’s next manager, a role left vacant after Erik ten Hag was fired on Monday.

Though United are still in the early stages of lining up Ten Hag’s successor, the club is willing to pay a release clause of around $10 million for Amorim’s services and the manager himself is open to holding conversations, per The Athletic. It is still unclear how quickly United can or will get a deal done to hire a new manager, whether it is Amorim or someone else. In the meantime, ten Hag’s assistant Ruud van Nistelrooy will lead the team.

The 39-year-old Amorim is considered a rising managerial talent in Europe after making a name for himself in his native Portugal. He has spent most of his managerial career with Sporting, who hired him in March 2020 and have enjoyed success under his leadership, winning the Primeira Liga in the 2021-22 season and the 2023-24 season. The league title at the end of the 2021-22 season ended a 19 year drought in a league long dominated by Benfica and Porto. They are atop this season’s standings with a perfect nine wins out of nine and are currently eighth in the UEFA Champions League standings with seven points out of nine.

Amorim prefers to play his teams in a  3-4-3 or 3-4-2-1 formation with defensive stability and a preference for possession, all while boasting a flexible attacking strategy. He has also worked with a handful of players who went on to sign for top clubs in Europe, like United’s Manuel Ugarte and Manchester City’s Matheus Nunes.

His success in recent years means he’s already been linked to a couple of high-profile jobs in England, including at Liverpool and West Ham. Amorim was considered the frontrunner to succeed Jurgen Klopp at Liverpool until Arne Slot filled the role, though he later traveled to London to chat about their job opening, but later called the trip in April a “mistake” for the timing.

Despite Amorim’s resume, he would have a big task ahead of him at United. Not only do they sit in 14th place with three wins in their opening nine games, their worst start to a season in 35 years, their issues are bigger than the manager. The team has cobbled together a squad that lacks high-quality players, and instead is mostly made up of underperforming players. Alejandro Garnacho and Bruno Fernandes are the only players with multiple goals or assists this season, while high-profile players like Marcus Rashford and Rasmus Hojlund have been out of form for more than a year.

United, currently led by van Nistelrooy, return to play on Sunday, when they host fifth place Chelsea.