- Man United have confirmed the appointment of Ruben Amorim as their new boss
- Erik ten Hag was sacked by the Red Devils following their 2-1 defeat by West Ham
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Manchester United have confirmed the appointment of Ruben Amorim – and agreed an early release fee that will see the Portuguese start at Old Trafford on November 11.
Amorim will replace Erik ten Hag on a two-and-a-half year deal, which the club can extend for a further 12 months, should they wish to do so.
Earlier this week Mail Sport revealed that Amorim, 39, had a notice period within his Sporting Lisbon contract.
Following negotiations United are understood to have paid one million euros on top of the £8.3m release clause to secure an early departure which will allow the new man to use the international break to familiarise himself with his surroundings before his first match in charge, which will be at Ipswich Town on November 24.
In the meantime, caretaker boss Ruud van Nistelrooy will oversee the visits of Chelsea and Leicester City, which sandwich a Europa League home fixture with PAOK.
It remains to be seen whether the club’s Dutch former striker will become part of Amorim’s backroom team.
United will pay separate compensation for the 39-year-old’s backroom staff, which includes his assistants Carlos Fernandes, Adelio Candido and Emanuel Ferro as well as goalkeeping coach
Insiders insist that Amorim was United’s number one target and that officials have not spoken to any other potential candidates after they decided to extend ten Hag’s contract in the summer.
First contact was made with Amorim’s agent when the decision was made to sack Ten Hag following United’s defeat at West Ham on Sunday.
United quickly established that the highly-thought of manager, who won back-to-back titles in Portugal, had a release clause in his contract and was interested in making the move.
They then contacted Sporting on Monday with chief executive Omar Berrada jetting to Lisbon on the same day to seal the deal.
At no point was a fee quoted to terminate the notice period of 30 days.
It is understood United wanted to act in the right manner, allowing Amorim a send-off and his club to work on their next appointment after losing their manager mid-season. The view within the club is that they have acted swiftly and quietly to get their man.
United firmly believe Amorim, who ended Sporting’s 19-year title drought can finally return the club to the top of football following the departure of Sir Alex Ferguson in 2013. They see the new arrival as a proven winner and the most exciting young coach in Europe.
Insiders say his style of football, personality, energy and track record of developing young talent make him well suited to the role.
With the new football staff in place following the arrival of Sir Jim Ratcliffe and INEOS, United feel they have now added the ‘critical’ piece.
