Manchester United

Manchester United

Premier League • England

Sporting CP star pair confronted Amorim over Man Utd as they’re trapped after his lure

Viktor Gyokeres, Morten Hjulmand, Ruben Amorim

Viktor Gyokeres and Morten Hjulmand questioned Ruben Amorim about joining Manchester United after staying at Sporting for him

Sporting CP star pair Morten Hjulmand and Viktor Gyokeres reportedly ‘questioned’ Ruben Amorim about going to Manchester United, as the pair were ‘enticed’ to stay with the Portuguese outfit because of him.

Amorim is United’s preferred choice to take over from Erik ten Hag. The previous Red Devils boss was dismissed on Monday, with the club 14th in the Premier League after a loss to West Ham at the weekend.

All roads seem to lead to Amorim, with Sporting apparently feeling that he is already gone. And while that should be a positive for United, there have been oppositional views from some within his current squad at Sporting.

Indeed, O Jogo reports multiple players ‘questioned’ Amorim over his decision to leave when he took training ahead of their next game.

Among them were Hjulmand and Gyokeres, two of the club’s best assets, and players with ‘more market value’ than others.

The pair had offers to leave in the summer, but were ‘enticed’ to stay at Sporting to be able to win the title two seasons on the trot, as well as to continue playing under Amorim.

It was his lure that kept them at the club, and they will now be trapped without him, until at least January and perhaps beyond.

READ MORE: Six Man Utd players who could benefit from Ruben Amorim being appointed as next manager

Both stars could follow Amorim

In the summer, Hjulmand was actually heavily on the radar of United, before they signed Manuel Ugarte, with a report stating the Red Devils were closing in on the midfielder.

He has been back on their radar again of late and as a result, it would not be a surprise if the board were happy with Amorim bringing Hjulmand with him to Old Trafford.

Gyokeres, on the other hand, was being courted by many of Europe’s biggest clubs in the summer.

He, too, is being linked with United at the moment, and though it could be difficult to snare him amid competition from Chelsea, Arsenal and Manchester City, there’s a chance he could be signed too.

The relationship with Amorim, though strained slightly due to his Sporting exit, could help United to land the stars, who would surely jump at the chance to follow him given how much they wanted to remain with him in Portugal.

Man Utd round-up: Top boss rejected job

United had a shortlist which included Xavi as well as Amorim once Ten Hag had been given his marching orders.

However, they reportedly swiftly focussed their efforts on the latter once Xavi had told the Red Devils he did not want to be considered for the job, and he does not know if he ever wants to manage in the Premier League.

Amorim has been linked with multiple Sporting disciples, including Goncalo Inacio, Marcus Edwards and Pedro Goncalves.

Ten Hag, meanwhile, is said to feel let down by three United stars in particular: Marcus Rashford, Antony and Casemiro.

Amorim hadn’t seen best of stars

Neither Hjulmand nor Gyokeres were near the top of the list of players used most by Amorim.

They were hopeful that they would be able to work their way up that list at Sporting, but that is not to be the case, it seems.

Unless they move to United with him, then other players will get the chance to eat their way towards the top instead of his thriving Sporting stars.

1 Nuno Santos 2 Pedro Goncalves 3 Goncalo Inacio 4 Sebastian Coates 5 Matheus Reis 6 Antonio Adan 7 Paulinho 8 Ricardo Esgaio 9 Daniel Braganca 10 Marcus Edwards Ruben Amorim’s most used players at Sporting