Chelsea ‘paid’ for Ruben Amorim’s ‘flight’ with ‘fake’ West Ham news rebuffed after Blues ‘meeting’

Lewis Oldham
Chelsea target Ruben Amorim
Chelsea have been linked with Ruben Amorim.

According to reports, Chelsea – not West Ham United – “paid” for Ruben Amorim’s “flight” to London earlier this month as he had a “meeting” with the Blues.

The 39-year-old has done a brilliant job with Sporting Lisbon, who are on course to win the Primeira Liga title this season.

Amorim’s attack-minded philosophy has caught the eye as he is currently being linked with several elite European clubs.

He emerged as the favourite to replace Jurgen Klopp at Liverpool after they missed out on Bayer Leverkusen boss Xabi Alonso but they have opted to appoint Arne Slot.

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Before it emerged that Liverpool had selected Slot as their preferred candidate, Amorim caused a stir by flying to London as he reportedly had a meeting with Premier League rivals West Ham, who are expected to replace David Moyes in the summer.

Over the weekend, Amorim admitted it was a “mistake” to fly to London for a meeting.

“I’m truly sorry. I apologise to the club, players & fans. It was a mistake. The timing was absolutely wrong,” Amorim told reporters.

“I always ask my players to be respectful & I wasn’t, even though I informed Sporting beforehand.”

Amorim met Chelsea and not West Ham?

But now, Portuguese journalist Pedro Sepulveda has claimed Chelsea “paid” for Amorim’s flight as he had a “meeting” with “members of the board”.

Sepulveda tweeted: “The airplane that Rúben Amorim took on 22nd of April was paid by @ChelseaFC. Meeting with members of the board.

“Pochettino will probably leave Chelsea in the end of the season. Deal with @LFC collapsed. The news about @WestHam paying for the flight are FAKE.”

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Mauricio Pochettino is nearing the end of his first season as Chelsea’s head coach but he is under huge pressure as his side are ninth in the Premier League with five games remaining.

Transfer expert Fabrizio Romano has indicated that Amorim “is surely hoping for a job in the Premier League”.

“At one point, it looked like Ruben Amorim was the frontrunner for the Liverpool job, but it was never a done deal, never something agreed,” Romano said via his Daily Briefing column.

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“Liverpool spoke to Amorim’s camp, they had contact as Liverpool were informed of release clauses and details of his contract at Sporting, but he was just one of the candidates, never a done deal, never a verbal agreement, never the chosen one. It was a conversation and there was interest, that’s it.

“Still, Amorim would love to work in the Premier League. He’s still hoping for that solution, I’m told. Amorim will decide his future in the next weeks but he’s surely hoping for a job in the Premier League, despite Liverpool and West Ham talks collapsing.”