SHARE

Manchester United may need to work hard to convince Sporting Club de Portugal manager Rúben Amorim to take charge if he is the man, they’d want to replace Erik ten Hag.

That’s according to journalist Sofia Oliveira, who believes Amorim would be reluctant to make such a big step given the current situation at Old Trafford.

Erik ten Hag finds himself under increasing pressure after Manchester United’s worst start to a season in six decades.

The positives from last season, in which they won the Carabao Cup and finished in the top four have long been forgotten with a series of disappointing performances and defeats in the league and the cup increasing heat on the Dutchman.

Many are questioning both the style of play, or lack of it, and the business he has done in the past few transfer windows when he has been backed heavily by those in charge.

There is a growing belief that Manchester United could decide to remove him from his position, with journalists and pundits alike labelling the current situation as rudderless and needing to improve drastically.

Reports this week have drawn up a shortlist of potential replacements and Rúben Amorim has been named consistently as being a name that would be looked at.

Oliveira, though, believes he would need majorly convincing to make such a big step at this moment in time.

“I think Ruben Amorim is very much about his choices. He takes baby steps,” she said.

“If we can say that it’s not just football that he’s left the teams he’s played for, it’s because he’s always been on the rise. At least that’s how I see it, he’s always been on the rise.

“He’s predisposed to take bigger steps that he can handle. You need to look at Manchester United in that context.

“He’d be very willing to listen to a possible proposal, but I don’t believe it’d be a project he’d snatch up, flirt with, or embrace with open arms.

“Bear in mind it’s a club that’s very much in dispute. It has that aura of being a great English club, a grand old club. But it doesn’t seem like at this point in his career he’d want to take that big a step. Not if you’re looking at the current situation at Manchester United.”