Manchester United
Premier League • England
Man Utd ‘verbally agree’ Ruben Amorim appointment, with start date, exit fee, new salary all revealed
Sporting CP boss Ruben Amorim has verbally agreed to become the next Manchester United manager, and various reports have shed light on whether he’ll be installed in time to face Chelsea, how much Man Utd must pay and how much he’ll earn.
Man Utd sacked Erik ten Hag on Monday morning, with the club dissatisfied with results in both the Premier League and Europa League. The Daily Mail also stated a third reason behind the axe being swung was there were too few signs of improvement.
The Red Devils have quickly installed Sporting manager Ruben Amorim as their No 1 target. Talks between the clubs have opened and the 39-year-old is open to succeeding Ten Hag at Old Trafford.
And according to reporter Ben Jacobs, Amorim has ‘verbally agreed to become Manchester United manager.’ Jacobs added when posting on X: ‘Sources in Portugal say Amorim has already said yes to Man Utd.’
Transfer guru Fabrizio Romano echoed that claim without outright stating an agreement is in place. Also taking to X, Romano wrote: “Ruben Amorim has given initial green light to Man United. He’s keen on joining the club, accepting the project and the terms discussed.”
Sky Germany’s Florian Plettenberg added his take, stating: “Understand the most important contract details between Ruben Amorim and Manchester United have already been agreed upon. Only a few details remain. A complete agreement is therefore not an obstacle.”
Amorim’s contract at Sporting contains a three-tiered release clause, with Portuguese clubs required to pay €30m, most European clubs due to pay €20m and seven of the biggest teams required to pay the smallest fee of €10m.
Portuguese outlet A Bola claim Man Utd fall into the third category, meaning they’ll only need to pay €10m to spring Amorim from his deal in Lisbon. The other six clubs in that category are Real Madrid, Barcelona, Bayern Munich, Liverpool, Manchester City and Juventus.’
TalkSPORT claimed Amorim is in line to more than treble his salary if completing the switch. He currently pockets around £2.15m per year in Lisbon.
Elsewhere, The Guardian’s Jamie Jackson revealed it is currently “unlikely” that Amorim will be in place in time for Man Utd’s Premier League clash with Chelsea on Sunday.
United face Leicester in the EFL Cup on Wednesday before attention turns to Chelsea. Per Jackson, interim manager Ruud van Nistelrooy is likely to remain in charge for both of those matches.
Man Utd legends react to Ten Hag sack
Rio Ferdinand has pointed the finger at Liverpool when explaining why Manchester United sacked Erik ten Hag, though Gary Neville believes Tottenham were the catalyst.
Speaking on his YouTube channel in the immediate aftermath of the announcement, Ferdinand believes the 3-0 thumping suffered on home soil at the hands of Liverpool in gameweek three all but ended Ten Hag’s tenure.
In Ferdinand’s mind, Man Utd and Ten Hag “never recovered” from that mauling.
“Am I surprised? No,” declared Ferdinand. “They kept the man in charge, season kicks in, I actually thought we were starting to see some new signs in the first two or three games, and then we get beat by Liverpool and never recovered.
“It was like a boxer getting hit and knocked down in the third round and never recovering and getting knocked out, knocked down, every single round on the way to the 12th round.
“And finally, we’re here. The fight’s been called off in the last round for the manager, and I think now we’re going to go for a new direction.”
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Gary Neville also weighed in on the bombshell news while speaking to Sky Sports News.
The former right-back instead pointed to Man Utd’s 3-0 defeat to Tottenham on September 29 as being the point where Ten Hag’s fate was sealed.
Per the pundit, Man Utd probably decided to dispense with Ten Hag after that defeat and were simply waiting for the next “bad result” before pulling the trigger.
“I thought it was coming,” admitted Neville. “Looking at that Tottenham game a few weeks ago I felt I had seen this before. It was a bad day for Manchester United and a bad day for Erik ten Hag.
“It’s got worse form then, yesterday the missed chances were unacceptable, they should have been two up at halftime.
“Overall, the challenges of the results and performances have meant that the owners have decided to sack Erik ten Hag. I don’t think anybody will be truly shocked this morning.”
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Neville added: “I suspect the Tottenham game was probably a catalyst for them to start thinking about a new manager.
“You look at who is available then you try to think of the timing. You are half hoping the manager can turn it around but 99 times out of 100, the tide is against you and continues to go against you.
“They’ve probably chosen a moment that was decided a few weeks ago – that the next bad loss or bad result, we’re probably going to have to act. That has come yesterday [vs West Ham]
“They would have started the process of finding Erik ten Hag’s successor, definitely, because that Tottenham game a few weeks ago did feel like the end.”