Before Aston Villa held those quick negotiations which resulted in Unai Emery’s arrival at the club, they were linked to a few other managers who could replace Steven Gerrard.
One of them was Sporting coach Ruben Amorim. Reports from the English media claimed he was a strong option to take charge of the Villa Park side, with some stories even saying they could trigger his release clause at the Lions.
Aston Villa have already announced Emery’s arrival, but their chase for Amorim is still a subject in the Portuguese media, as he was now asked about the rumour in a press conference ahead of Sporting’s Champions League clash against Tottenham Hotspur.
Mentioning the links to Aston Villa, local journalists asked the coach if he’d like to work in England, Italy or Spain one day. And he didn’t really sound excited about it.
“I don’t have the specific dream of coaching a particular club, I’m happy when everyone rows in the same direction. I want to be in big championships,” said Ruben Amorim (via O Jogo).
“But that’s not what attracts me, it’s having a good project, good players, transmitting my identity to the players. May the team represent what I am as a coach. I’m already at a big club and I’m very young. I’m happy. It might be one of my goals to go to Italy, Spain or England, but I don’t have any plans. I wouldn’t say it’s a dream, I just want to be a coach and have a project that I identify with. I just want to beat Tottenham. I like uncertainty, not knowing what tomorrow is like.”
Ruben Amorim has been in charge of Sporting since March 2020. There, he has a pretty decent record with 85 wins in 121 games, and he won the league title in 2020/21.
Meanwhile, Unai Emery, who left his job at Villarreal to accept Aston Villa’s proposal, is set to have his first game in charge of the club this weekend against Newcastle United.
