Ruben Amorim has built a reputation as one of the finest young coaches in European football since taking charge of Sporting in 2020, with fans, pundits and former team-mates falling over themselves to praise the manager.
The 39-year-old now finds himself within touching distance of the Manchester United job, just the latest step in an extraordinary and meteoric rise for a special talent with the world at his feet.
Sporting confirmed this afternoon that United had signalled their intention to pay Amorim’s €10million (£8.3m) release clause in full in order to secure his services at Old Trafford.
Ruud van Nistelrooy will take over the reins from Erik ten Hag on an interim basis for the time being, though, with the Red Devils taking on Leicester City for a place in the Carabao Cup quarter-finals tomorrow night.
While Amorim has remained tight-lipped amid the intense speculation, it seems every man and his dog have voiced their opinions on the manager’s impending switch, including Peter Schmeichel, who views the Portuguese as a ‘great candidate’.
Iconic ex-United forward Cristiano Ronaldo is another known admirer of Amorim and shared a close bond with his fellow countryman during their time together with the Portuguese national team.
According to Portuguese football expert Marcus Alves, the five-time Ballon d’Or winner even came up with an affectionate nickname for Amorim which may go some way to explaining why United have been so charmed by his compatriot.
‘On the pitch, he has always delivered. Not even the constant sales in the transfer market have proved to be a problem for him,’ Alves told BBC Sport.
‘Under Amorim, no player is irreplaceable and more important than the club.
‘The Manchester United job may look like an impossible one right now, but so did Sporting’s when Amorim was unveiled as their head coach on March 5 2020.
‘Eloquent and outgoing, Amorim is irresistible and dominates the words in such a way that Cristiano Ronaldo used to call him “poet” in the national team.’
Alves is confident Amorim possesses the necessary tools to steer United out of the malaise that has taken hold since Sir Alex Ferguson departed in 2013.
‘Above all, he doesn’t tolerate lack of professionalism,’ Alves added.
‘This is a man who has pacified a team who seemed to be at war with itself once.
‘He surely can do that twice if he’s allowed to.’
Facing the media on Monday, Amorim refused to be drawn the incessant rumours linking him with the United job and insisted he remained focussed on Sporting.
‘I was expecting that question and obviously I’m not going to talk about the future, because otherwise I’ll always have to comment, so it’s not worth it, I won’t comment,’ he told reporters.
‘I’m very proud to be the coach of Sporting, that’s all.’
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