In the run up to it being announced Erik ten Hag had left Manchester United, and in the immediate aftermath of it, a whole group of managers were pushed forward to potentially take the job.
On Monday evening, it was reported in both the UK and Portugal that Rúben Amorim was the favourite for the position and the possibility of him making the move was presented as genuine.
Amorim ended a near 20-year Sporting CP wait for the title in 2021 and won it again last season. In the 2024/25 league campaign to date, the club has played nine games and won them all.
On the way to that impressive statistic they’ve scored 30 goals and conceded just two.
Given Manchester United’s announcement that Erik Ten Hag had left the club on Monday, later in the day Amorim was asked directly about the vacancy.
Sporting play Nacional in the Portuguese League Cup on Tuesday, and the press conference ahead of that gave the media the chance to press him.
Diario de Noticias quote him saying: “I’m not going to talk about my future, because if I say yes or no, I’ll have to comment. I’m very proud to be the coach of Sporting, that’s all.”
That is very much not ruling things out as he has on other occasions.
Earlier, multiple Portuguese sources reported the clause to take Amorim would be €20m, and not the €10m reported earlier.
A Bola have now clarified their position to say it’s €20m for all clubs outside Portugal, other than a select mentioned few… for whom it’s €10m.
They say those clubs include: ‘Real Madrid, Barcelona, Bayern Munich, Liverpool, Manchester City, Manchester United, Juventus.’
