 "Ruben Amorim will be Manchester United's sixth manager since the leegndary Alex Ferguson's retirement in 2013. Reuters")
Manchester United confirmed Ruben Amorim as their new manager on Friday, four days after sacking Erik ten Hag following a string of below par performances. The 39-year-old Portuguese coach, who won two Primeira Liga titles with Sporting Lisbon, has signed a contract with the Old Trafford-based club that runs till June 2027 and will officially join the ‘Red Devils’ on 11 November.
Amorim will take over from Ruud van Nistelrooy, who had served as assistant coach during Ten Hag’s reign and was named caretaker manager following the Dutchman’s dismissal from the role.
Also Read | 5 mistakes the new Manchester United manager must avoid after Ten Hag’s sacking
“It’s done. Bem-vindo ao Manchester United, Ruben Amorim,” United wrote in a post on their official X (formerly Twitter) account that was accompanied with a picture of the former Portugal and Benfica midfielder.
Ten Hag had been retained as United manager despite an eighth-place finish in the Premier League last season after the 20-time top-flight champions defeated fierce rivals Manchester City in the FA Cup final.
However, with the club registering their worst start in the Premier League era this season and finding themselves languising at the 14th position on the table, the club was forced to remove ten Hag, whose popularity among the United faithful had nosedived in recent weeks.
United welcome ‘highly decorated’ Amorim
“Manchester United is delighted to announce the appointment of Ruben Amorim as head coach of the men’s first team, subject to work visa requirements,” the club said on its website.
“He will join until June 2027 with a club option of an additional year, once he has fulfilled his obligations to his current club.”
United described Amorim as “one of the most exciting and highly rated young coaches in European football”.
“Highly decorated as both a player and coach, his titles include winning the Primeira Liga twice in Portugal with Sporting CP – the first of which was the club’s first title in 19 years,” the club statement said.
Van Nistelrooy will continue to take charge of the team until Amorim arrives at Old Trafford during the November international break.
His first game in charge will be away at struggling Ipswich on 24 November.
United sacked Ten Hag on Monday after a 2-1 defeat by West Ham left them languishing 14th in the Premier League, with just three wins from nine matches.
Top target
Amorim quickly emerged as the club’s top target and Sporting issued a statement to the Lisbon stock exchange earlier this week confirming United were willing to meet his release clause of €10 million ($11 million).
Amorim was peppered with questions about his prospective switch at his press conference ahead of Sporting’s home league game against Estrela on Friday but he remained tight-lipped.
“It is a negotiation between two clubs,” he said on Thursday.
“It’s never easy. Even with the clauses it’s never easy, they have to talk.”
Prior to Wednesday’s 5-2 win against Leicester in the fourth round of the League Cup, United had won just one of their past eight games in all competitions.
Ten Hag won the League Cup and FA Cup during his spell at Old Trafford but the club have not won the Premier League since 2013, in Alex Ferguson’s last season in charge.
Ferguson won the Premier League title 13 times but since his departure five permanent managers have come and gone without adding to the club’s 20 top-flight titles.
Van Nistelrooy said Thursday he was “motivated” to help turn United’s season around and wants to stay at the club as he prepares the players for a high-profile match against Chelsea on Sunday.
Asked if it is his expectation that he will remain as an assistant under the new United boss Van Nistelrooy, a former PSV Eindhoven manager, said: “We will see but it’s a contract situation that I’m in, and my desire to help the club go forward.
“So I can speak to you about my side of this story, and after that, when the new situation is occurring, when the new manager is signing and conversations take place, we have to see how things develop.”
_With AFP inputs
_