Ruben Amorim: Portugal’s Next Superstar Coach Linked Heavily With Manchester United

Two decades ago, it was Jose Mourinho making waves. Now, Ruben Amorim is poised to follow in his footsteps, emerging from Portugal as a highly regarded coaching talent likely to transition to the Premier League.

Amorim has emerged as the favorite to take over at Manchester United following Erik Ten Hag’s sacking.

His club, Sporting Lisbon, has confirmed the English club’s interest.

At 39 years old, Amorim is two years younger than Mourinho was when he departed from Porto to take over a Chelsea team ready to rule over English football.

Other coaches have come from Portugal with huge reputations, but not all have succeeded. Andre Villas-Boas, for example, failed to live up to expectations after following Mourinho’s path from Porto to Chelsea in 2011.

But everything about Amorim, who was also linked to the manager’s job at Liverpool this year, suggests he could be something special, just as Mourinho famously claimed he was in 2004.

As long ago as 2017 when Amorim confirmed his intention to become a coach, he told Tribuna Expresso, “I don’t know if I am going to be good or bad, but that is what I am going to be.”

He had just quit playing at age 32 after injuries blighted a fine career.

Amorim has established his reputation as a coach at Sporting, but he gained prominence as a player with their Lisbon rivals, Benfica, a club he has supported since childhood.

“I can see myself coaching Benfica or one of the world’s biggest clubs. Only time will tell and you need so much luck,” he said.

Amorim began playing at Belenenses from the Lisbon suburb Belem best known for its custard tarts.

He worked under Jorge Jesus there, reaching the Portuguese Cup final in 2007.

In 2008, he joined Benfica, and a year later, he was reunited with Jesus. Amorim mainly played at right-back as a team featuring David Luiz and Angel Di Maria romped to the title.

In the next season, Benfica was surpassed by Villas-Boas’s Porto, and Amorim faced difficulties due to a knee injury.

He needed a loan move at Braga to relaunch his career and went back to Benfica and Jesus in 2013/14.

Playing regularly in midfield, Amorim starred as they won a domestic treble and lost the Europa League final on penalties to Sevilla.

His career never reached such highs again, and he ended his playing days in Qatar.

Crazy about winning

Amorim has described Mourinho, who managed United from 2016 to 2018, as his reference, but he admits Jesus, now guiding Al Hilal in Saudi Arabia, marked him more than any other coach after he spent seven years under his stewardship.

“It is funny because as a player, I had lots of problems with Jesus, albeit other players did too because Jesus is a coach who wears you out,” Amorim recalled.

“He is a real perfectionist. I worked with him for a long time and it is obvious that what I demand of players is quite similar to him.”

Amorim, who represented Portugal in two World Cups, began his coaching career in 2018 at the age of 33 with the Lisbon club Casa Pia, and his ascent since then has been remarkably rapid.

He won the third-tier title there but didn’t yet have the necessary coaching qualifications and left in early 2019.

Amorim began his steep ascent upon joining Braga, managing their B team before being handed the first-team reins in December 2019.

He did so well that Sporting swooped, paying his 10 million euro release clause.

Sporting had not won the Portuguese title since 2002 and their supporters had some concerns about his Benfica past.

“I am a professional and I am fanatical about winning. I know how big this club is. I played against them. I am not hiding my past,” he said at his unveiling.

In his first full season, Sporting won the title, losing just one game.

Amorim, who favors an intense pressing game, then took Sporting to the Champions League last 16.

He secured a second Portuguese title last season, and players like English forward Marcus Edwards and Swedish striker Viktor Gyokeres have thrived under his guidance.