LISBON: Incoming Manchester United manager Ruben Amorim said the English club refused his request to take over at the end of this season, telling him: “It was now or never.”
Amorim will leave Sporting Lisbon, the Portuguese champion, to take charge of United on Nov. 11 as the replacement for Erik ten Hag, who was fired on Monday.
Hours after being confirmed as United’s next manager, Amorim held an emotionally charged news conference after Sporting’s 5-1 win over Estrela da Amadora on Friday. He detailed the background to what he described as a life-changing decision.
Amorim said he always planned for this to be his last season at Sporting — he has coached the team since 2020 — and he changed his mind “many times” about what decision to take after United expressed its interest.
“The only thing I asked for was that it was at the end of the season," Amorim said, “and they said no, that wasn’t possible, it was now or never and if not they would look at another option.
“I had three days to take a decision that would radically change my life. And that is what I did.”
Amorim said United wasn’t the first club to offer to pay the buyout clause in his Sporting contract.
“I had other offers but I didn’t want them, and this one I did, so I made my decision,” he said.
“People say it was about the money, but there was another team that wanted to hire me before and they paid three times more than Manchester (United).”
Amorim said he had the “best time of my life” at Sporting, where he won the Portuguese league twice in four full seasons, and he could “feel the anger and the disappointment of some fans” during the game against Estrela, during which he appeared to be close to tears on one occasion.
“I understand that they (Sporting’s fans) are hurt,” he said, “but we have to keep going forward, time heals all wounds.”
Amorim said he would be taking his backroom staff at Sporting with him to United but vowed not to sign any players from Sporting in the January transfer window.
He hasn’t spoken to any United player yet, he said, and declined to speak in depth about United until he joined the team on Nov. 11.
Before then, he will take charge of two more Sporting matches — against Manchester City in the Champions League and Braga in the Portuguese league.
Amorim’s first game with United will be on Nov. 24 away to Ipswich in the Premier League.