Man Utd: Report ‘inside Amorim deal’ confirms two concerns; reveals when Ratcliffe first ‘held talks’
A new report has revealed when Manchester United made contact with Ruben Amorim to ‘gauge’ his interest in replacing Erik ten Hag at Old Trafford.
On Friday afternoon, Amorim was named Man Utd’s head coach. His appointment came just four days after Ten Hag was sacked.
Ten Hag was dismissed after Man Utd‘s disappointing 2-1 loss at West Ham on Sunday. This result leaves them 14th in the Premier League as they have only won three of their opening nine games.
The former Ajax boss was on the brink of losing his job at the end of last season, but Man Utd kept him after he helped them win the FA Cup.
In the summer, Ten Hag penned a one-year contract extension. Despite this, he had little credit in the bank and his exit had been a long time coming.
The Red Devils were linked with several managers in the summer, but Amorim was not mooted as a potential target as Liverpool and West Ham held talks with the 39-year-old.
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Despite this, a report from The Athletic ‘inside the Amorim deal’ reveals Man Utd ‘did hold talks with him around the FA Cup final’, but they had two doubts.
‘There were some internal discussions from a technical standpoint about his dedication to the back-three system that has led him to great success with Sporting Lisbon.
‘There was also a financial calculation due to Amorim’s release clause, which has come down over the course of his contract but was still significant. United could not get totally comfortable with paying a sizeable sum when they were not entirely confident that Amorim’s methods would translate from Portugal to England.
‘And so his name was kept from featuring prominently in reporting around Ten Hag’s proposed June exit. That perhaps suited United, who could continue to monitor Amorim with relative discretion. Chief executive Omar Berrada, in particular, regarded the 39-year-old highly for his record of winning two titles at Sporting after a 19-year drought for the club.’
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It’s also claimed that Amorim was on the ‘top of the list’ after INEOS had an executive committee meeting at the start of October. The report also reveals when Man Utd ‘gauged his willingness to make the switch straight away’.
‘United discussed alternatives but did not have conversations with any other candidate than Amorim.
‘Further background checks on Amorim’s style and relationship with his players had got those at the top of United enthusiastic about the prospect of bringing him to the club. They became confident his back-three formation could map onto the squad.
‘In the week United faced Fenerbahce, United gauged Amorim’s willingness to make the switch straight away, with Ratcliffe and Brailsford involved. Ten Hag and his team stayed in Turkey that Thursday night then flew to London and trained at Leyton Orient’s stadium before playing West Ham on the Sunday. The draw in Istanbul followed by defeat at the London Stadium were results viewed by United’s hierarchy as prompting the need for change.
‘Berrada and Ashworth told Ten Hag his fate at Carrington that Monday morning before United’s chief executive boarded a flight to Lisbon to inform Sporting of his club’s intentions. He dealt face to face with the Sporting president Federico Varandas this week, while Ashworth stayed in Carrington to support interim manager Ruud van Nistelrooy.’
