Huge Liverpool boost as top manager target ‘falls off Barcelona list’ as he’s ‘on his way’ to Anfield
Liverpool have received a huge boost in their pursuit of Sporting Lisbon boss Ruben Amorim with the news Barcelona are no longer interested, according to reports.
The Reds are looking to bring in a new manager after Jurgen Klopp announced that he will be leaving at the end of the season to take a break from football.
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Xabi Alonso was the early favourite after guiding Bayer Leverkusen to the top of the Bundesliga table – but the Spaniard announced last week that he will be staying in Germany next term.
That led to reports that Amorim and Brighton boss Roberto De Zerbi were the two top options as Liverpool look to appoint the right candidate in the summer.
Amorim is now the new favourite with the bookmakers and the latest reports are pointing towards the Portuguese coach potentially becoming the new manager.
Respected journalist David Ornstein claimed earlier this week that De Zerbi is “incredibly unlikely” to join Liverpool as their new manager in the summer, while Amorim is “definitely in the mix”.
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“My information is that it’s incredibly unlikely that Liverpool will go for De Zerbi,” Ornstein said on The Athletic FC podcast. “I’m being told that’s not going to happen.
“And I see the stories continue to propel, and also see that he’s heavily linked with Bayern Munich, so let’s see on that one.”
On Amorim, Ornstein added: “Amorim is definitely in the mix. His body of work at Sporting Lisbon is really impressive.
“I think a member of his backroom staff on strength and conditioning used to work at Liverpool and is said to be really important to Amorim at Sporting.
“I think some conversations have taken place.”
Transfer expert Fabrizio Romano has backed up much of what Ornstein said, he wrote in his Caught Offside column: “Despite the links with De Zerbi as Klopp’s successor, I keep repeating my position on that – I’m told that Ruben Amorim is the favourite option for now.
“De Zerbi has been on the list for Liverpool for some time as well, but there’s still no development so far.
“Let’s also see what Bayern will decide to do, but it’s still time for internal talks at Bayern on who will replace Thomas Tuchel, and nothing has been decided yet.”
Amorim ‘falls off the list’ at Barcelona
And now Spanish publication Sport (via Sport Witness) claims that Amorim has ‘fallen off the ‘list’ of candidates Barcelona have to replace Xavi in the summer.
Barcelona sporting director Deco ‘had thought about the Lisbon coach because the style of play he practices with his teams is very similar to the Barça team’ but the Catalan giants are no longer interest as they see ‘the little experience he has on the bench and none outside of Portugal’ as a big ‘negative’.
While Barcelona were also put off by paying his €20m release clause in his contract with the Portuguese’s contract running until the summer of 2026.
The report adds that he’s ‘likely on his way to Liverpool’, after Barca ‘definitively ruled out’ making a move for Amorim, and that the Reds are ‘willing to negotiate a transfer with Sporting’.
