Ruben Amorim: Is Sporting manager right for Manchester United?

A former Benfica and Portugal midfielder, Amorim retired as a player in 2018 and first made his mark as a coach the following year, when an impressive stint in charge of Braga’s reserve team saw him promoted to first-team boss.

Ten wins in 13 games – including a first victory at Benfica for 65 years – soon caught the eye of bigger clubs and, so keen were Sporting to secure his services that they paid 10m euros, (£8.6m) to make him their manager in March 2020.

European football expert Guillem Balague told BBC Sport: “His coaching career actually began with Casa Pia, then a third-tier club, where it almost ended as soon as it had begun.

“He lost his first two games and, with his pride hurt and doubts setting in, he announced if he lost the third game he would quit. In the next match he changed the system and played a back three for the first time.

“The system worked and from then on he remained unbeaten at the club. He also felt he had found the formation that allowed him to produce the football he wanted – one invariably linked to the spectacle for the fans.

“From there, he never looked back as he went to Braga and then Sporting.”

That was the third-highest transfer fee paid for a manager but it soon proved money well spent as Amorim led the club on a 32-match unbeaten run to claim the Portuguese league cup and end their almost two-decade wait for a league title – a success they repeated last season.

Former Liverpool and Portugal defender Abel Xavier spent time with Amorim while they were taking their coaching badges and was impressed with what he saw from the outset.

“He is very humble, discreet, and has a very clear mindset,” he told BBC World Service.

“At Braga we saw an immediate impact because, with the same squad, with the same players, he transformed the team.

“He put in place his ideas, he changed the dynamic, he created empathy, and of course a big club like Sporting Lisbon paid to have him.”