By james art United quickly settled on the 39-year-old as their number one choice to replace Erik ten Haag, who was sacked on Monday after Sunday’s 2-1 defeat at West Ham left his side in 14th place in the league.
In a statement to Portugal’s financial regulator, CMVM, on Tuesday, Sporting notified investors of United’s approach and expressed an expectation that the deal was likely to be completed.
“Manchester United FC has expressed an interest in hiring coach Ruben Amorim, the Board of Directors of Sporting SAD having referred to the conditions set out in the employment contract in force between the Company and the coach, in particular the relevant termination clause and in the amount of 10 000,000.00 euros,” the announcement said.
“Manchester United FC have expressed an interest in paying Sporting SAD the amount under the aforementioned clause.”
Sporting beat Nacional 3-1 in the Portuguese league cup, the Taca da Liga, on Tuesday night – a game now expected to be Amorim’s last in charge.
Amorim has won two Portuguese titles and two League Cups with Sporting since joining the club in March 2020.
Amorim has recently been mooted as a possible successor to Pep Guardiola given his links to future City director of football Hugo Viana, although the Premier League champions have played down those links as mere speculation.
United’s controversial 2-1 loss to West Ham, in which Jarrod Bowen’s controversial late penalty proved decisive, was the final straw for The Hague. Speculation over the Dutchman’s future has intensified in recent weeks after the 54-year-old was left in charge at the end of last season.
A statement from the club shortly before midday on Monday read: “Erik ten Haag has left his role as Manchester United’s first team manager. Eric was appointed in April 2022 and led the club to two domestic trophies, winning the Carabao Cup in 2023 and the FA Cup in 2024.
“We are grateful to Eric for all he has done during his time with us and wish him well in the future.”
Ruud van Nistelrooy has been appointed in charge ahead of the Carabao Cup tie at home to Leicester on Wednesday.
The Ten Hag survived the summer review at United, buoyed by beating Manchester City and winning the FA Cup in May, but after just three wins from nine league games the club quickly reconsidered.
The club wanted to give Ten Haag a chance to work in a new sporting structure created in the summer, but results and performances forced them to.
It is understood that the club’s hierarchy have not seen enough progress in the Ten Hag squad to believe they are on track to challenge for the Premier League title again.
After replacing caretaker manager Ralf Rangnick, Ten Haag ended the club’s six-year wait for a major trophy in his first season when his side beat Newcastle in the Carabao Cup final.
The former Ajax boss also guided United to third in the table, but his second season saw United crash out of the Champions League group stage before finishing eighth in the Premier League.
Despite rampant speculation that he would be sacked in the summer, the club opted to extend the deal until 2026 after carrying out a thorough review.
Ten Hag, United’s fifth permanent head coach since Sir Alex Ferguson retired in 2013, had guided Ajax to the semi-finals of the 2018-19 Champions League and also won the league and cup double with them in 2018-19 and 2020- 21.