Manchester United agree terms with Ruben Amorim: when will he start?

Manchester United’s search for a new manager is over. The Premier League side reached an agreement with Sporting Clube to release their coach Ruben Amorim, who is set take over from Erik ten Hag. Ten Hag’s two and a half-year stint at Old Trafford came to an end when he was sacked on Monday morning with Ruud van Nistelrooy taking over on an interim basis. Van Nistelrooy celebrated his first game in charge with a win - United beat Leicester 5-2 in the EFL Carabao Cup this evening and have been handed a quarter final draw against Spurs.

United put faith in Amorim

Sporting Clube coach Ruben Amorim was earmarked as the prime candidate to take over the manager’s role on a permanent basis. Negotiations with both the 39-year-old and Sporting were positive - United’s proposal to trigger the coach’s €10 million ($10.85 million) release clause was accepted by the Lisbon-based outfit on Wednesday. Talks continue to work out when Amorim can start work and who will form part of his coaching staff - Carlos Fernandes and Adelio Candido are his right-hand men in the Portuguese capital.

Amorim expected at Old Trafford after the November international break

What is clear is that Amorim’s appointment won’t be immediate. Sporting, who sit top of the Primeira Liga table on 27 points, have three games to play before the next international break and it appears that he will remain in the post until then, giving his employers time to find a replacement.

Sporting entertain Estrela at home this Friday, then play away at Amorim’s old club Braga the following Sunday. But the big game comes a few days later on 5 November when they meet Manchester City in the fourth matchday of the Champions League. Sporting are unbeaten so far in Europe - wins against Lille and Sturm Graz and a draw against PSV leaves them eighth in the table and well placed for direct qualification to the next round.

The next international break, the final one of this year runs from 11-19 November, so Amorim will likely complete his move to Manchester after that.

Amorim replaced Silas as coach at Sporting in March 2020. He has overseen 269 games with the Leões, winning 195 of them which gives him a very respectable win rate of 72.49 percent. In such a short space of time, he has guided the team to two league titles and two league cups (Taças da Liga).

As for his coaching style, the goods news is that Amorim is an advocate of vibrant, attacking football and his teams generally love scoring lots of goals. In 2020/21, Sporting finished with 86 and conceded just 22 . That will come as comforting news at Old Trafford right now as under Ten Hag, the team have the third worst goal scoring figures in the entire league - just eight goals to date - only Crystal Palace and bottom-placed Southampton have less, both with six.