Man Utd confirm Ruben Amorim as new head coach – an appointment that rips up the script

Manchester United believe Ruben Amorim’s appointment as head coach will usher in a new style and approach and signals a sharp culture shift compared to past managers.

Amorim has signed a two-and-a-half year contract until June 2027 with the option of another year, although he is not due to formally join United until November 11 after the forthcoming international break.

The 39-year-old Portuguese is United’s youngest managerial hire since Wilf McGuinness, then 31, succeeded Sir Matt Busby in 1969 and the first manager post Sir Alex Ferguson to take the title of head coach.

Old Trafford insiders believe Amorim has a “notably different profile from former head coaches”, will transform the team’s identity and forms part of the “broader evolution” of the club’s football structure.

United have triggered the £8.4 million release clause in Amorim’s contract with Sporting in addition to paying a further £840,000 to secure his early release from a 30-day notice period that would ordinarily have tied him to the Portuguese club until the start of December.

It means a large portion of the estimated £30 million to £35 million savings the club stand to realise after shedding 250 jobs in the summer will be eaten up in compensation payments to managers and their coaching staff.

Erik ten Hag, who was sacked on Monday just under four months after having his contract extended by 12 months, is in line to receive up to £15 million in compensation.

In a statement to supporters, Ten Hag said: “We won two trophies - achievements that I will cherish for the rest of my life. Of course, my dream was to bring more trophies to the cabinet. Unfortunately, that dream has come to an end. I wish all Manchester United fans nothing but success, trophies and glory.”

United could face further compensation payments running into millions for the likes of Ruud van Nistelrooy, who is in interim charge while the club wait for Amorim to start work, assistant Rene Hake, first team coaches Andreas Georgson and Darren Fletcher and goalkeeping coach Jelle ten Rouwelaar depending on Amorim’s plans.

Van Nistelrooy, who oversaw a 5-2 Carabao Cup win over Leicester on Wednesday and will be in the dug-out for the visit of Chelsea on Sunday, made a pointed reference to his two-year contract on Thursday when expressing a desire to remain at the club under the new manager.

Amorim wants to bring at least five of his staff with him from Sporting, including assistants Carlos Fernandes, Adelio Candido and Emanuel Ferro, goalkeeping coach Jorge Vital and sports scientist Paulo Barreira.

Amorim was due to take charge of Sporting’s game with Estrela on Friday night as well as next Tuesday’s Champions League tie against United’s bitter rivals Manchester City and Braga on Sunday week, before officially starting work at Old Trafford on November 11.

His first game as United manager will be away to Ipswich Town in the Premier League on November 24.

Sporting were keen not to lose Amorim immediately but agreed to release the coach before the end of his notice period after United offered to pay an additional sum following face-to-face discussions with the Old Trafford chief executive, Omar Berrada, who led a delegation to Lisbon on Monday.

Sporting said in a statement that Amorim’s impending exit to United would also save them around £1.4 million in bonus payments and other costs relating to their outgoing coach.

United believe they are appointing one of the most exciting and highly rated young coaches in European football who they feel has the style of play, personality, energy and winning mentality for the role as well as a reputation for developing young players.

Old Trafford insiders are of the view that his appointment represents a step change from past appointments since Ferguson’s retirement in 2013. David Moyes, Louis van Gaal, Jose Mourinho and Erik ten Hag were all 50 or over when they took charge at United and of a very different profile to Amorim. Ole Gunnar Solskjaer was 45 who landed the job unexpectedly after an impressive honeymoon spell as interim.

United insiders said Amorim, who has won two league titles with Sporting,  was their first choice target to replace Ten Hag.

Thomas Frank, the Brentford manager, and Edin Terzic and Xavi, formerly of Borussia Dortmund and Barcelona respectively, were also admired by United but Amorim was the clear frontrunner for the position with the club moving swiftly to secure his services after dismissing Ten Hag on Monday morning.

From there Berrada travelled to Lisbon to meet with Sporting while United’s sporting director Dan Ashworth remained in Manchester to support Van Nistelrooy.

Van Nistelrooy will be responsible for the tactics and selection against Chelsea although it remains to be seen if Amorim seeks to speak to the Dutchman or has any input from afar for the Europa League tie against PAOK Salonika of Greece at Old Trafford on Thursday or the home league match against Leicester three days later.

With United currently languishing in 14th position in the Premier League, seven points adrift of the top four, the club will hope Van Nistelrooy can build on Wednesday’s win over Leicester and bring about an upturn in results before Amorim takes over.

02:26 PM GMT

Inside story on the deal

Manchester United’s new chief executive Omar Berrada had a busy Monday. The Frenchman, who previously worked for Manchester City and Barcelona, sat alongside his new sporting director Dan Ashworth and sacked Erik ten Hag in the morning and then boarded a flight to Lisbon to tell Sporting face-to-face that United wanted their manager Ruben Amorim – and as soon as possible.

Telegraph Sport’s chief football writer Sam Wallace has the inside story on the deal which unfolded at rapid pace this week and also explains why it took so long to sack Erik ten Hag, who was left “devastated”.

You can read Sam’s full piece here.

02:14 PM GMT

Harry Redknapp: ‘Strange’ situation with Van Nistelrooy

Harry Redknapp has shared his thoughts on the goings on at Old Trafford:

“Ruben Amorim has come in from Portugal, the fella has clearly done a great job there but so did Erik ten Hag at Ajax so who knows!

“I do find it a little strange that Ruud van Nistelrooy is in charge for the next few games, what if he goes and wins them all? Everything seems a bit confused at Old Trafford at the moment.

“I feel a little sorry for Erik ten Hag, they lost that game against West Ham because of bad finishing and a terrible refereeing decision. I don’t think he can have too many complaints though; it’s not been good enough on the whole.”

Redknapp was speaking to BetVictor

02:07 PM GMT

United history

Amorim will become United’s first head coach – rather than filling the traditional English manager role – and will work under a new structure constructed at the club by Ineos after the Jim Ratcliffe-led group bought a minority stake and took over the running of football operations at the turn of the year.

That new structure features Ratcliffe, Ineos director of Sport Dave Brailsford, CEO Omar Berrada, director of football Dan Ashworth and technical Jason Wilcox. These guys will make the major managerial decisions, including over contracting players, leaving Amorim and is backroom team to focus on coaching.

Jamie Carragher, speaking earlier on Sky Sports, believes that will be a good thing for United. He said that previous managers had too much power over transfers – highlighting Erik ten Hag’s spending spree that included huge fees on Antony and Casemiro, both of whom been the targets of criticism.

Carragher outlined how well backed managers have been at United in recent times in this column earlier this week.

01:55 PM GMT

Maresca: Good luck to Amorim

Chelsea visit Manchester United in the Premier League on Sunday and their manager Enzo Maresca has been speaking just now about the match and the appointment of Ruben Amorim:

“The people in charge [at United] made the decision because they think it is the best, and so all the best to him and all the best to Manchester United.”

Maresca played with United interim manager Ruud van Nistelrooy at Malaga and is looking forward to seeing his old friend this weekend:

“I didn’t speak with Ruud but I will give him a big hug on Sunday and we expect a tough game. He’s a fantastic guy, humble, very professional.”

As asked if it was a good time to be playing United, Maresca said: “Hopefully it’s a good time, I hope so, and we’ll do our best to try to win the game.”

01:41 PM GMT

“He knows what he wants and is very demanding”

Amorim’s compatriot Diogo Dalot, perhaps still trying to forget his unintentional role in the defeat that finally led to Ten Hag’s dismissal, has backed the new gaffer...

01:35 PM GMT

Long goodbyes

A somewhat strange feature of this appointment is that Amorim will continue at Sporting Lisbon for their next three matches (home to Estrela tonight and Manchester City on November 5 and Braga away on November 10) while Ruud van Nistelrooy will remain as interim United manager for their next three games (all at home, against Chelsea on Sunday, PAOK on Thursday and Leicester, also on November 10).

Then it will be all change the day after their final games as Amorim’s contract with United starts on November 11. He will have the international break to get his feet under the table at Old Trafford before taking charge of United for the first time at Ipswich on November 24.

What will the atmosphere be like at Sporting, how will their players react? And what about that tasty-looking clash with Man City next week – an instant audition for what could become a titanic rivalry in the Premier League.

And what if Van Nistelrooy continues to impress as caretaker? He has made clear that he wants to stay, but as James Ducker says below (see post at 12.39pm) there may not be a comfortable space for him in the new set-up.

It will be an intriguing couple of weeks.

01:25 PM GMT

Carragher: United could be challenging for top honours in next couple of years

Telegraph Sport columnist speaking on Sky Sports

01:07 PM GMT

‘The big difference with Ten Hag will be the charisma’

Rio Ferdinand had a chat with Nani, who reckons the United players will run through walls for their new gaffer...

01:03 PM GMT

Amorim’s in-tray

More from our Mancunian football expert James Ducker... the Telegraph’s northern football correspondent, who has tirelessly chronicled United’s dizzying decline since the end of Sir Alex Ferguson reign 11 years ago, has had a delve through Ruben Amorim’s in-tray.

Among the most pressing issues the new head coach must address to get United “back on their perch”, to misquote Fergie, are imposing a clear style of play, making them hard to beat again and reinvigorating Marcus Rashford.

You can read James’s full analysis here.

12:53 PM GMT

Sporting reveal financial details

Sporting have posted on X to reveal some of the details of the deal to allow their manager to join United.

Their statement says: “Sporting has reached an agreement with Manchester United FC (MUFC) regarding terms and conditions of coach Ruben Amorim’s departure, in return for which MUFC will pay Sporting 11 million euros (£9.2 million).”

The statement said that Sporting will also receive 1.6 million euros in relation to the termination of contracts.

12:46 PM GMT

Amorim excited for ‘new challenge’

Speaking yesterday at his press conference before Sporting Lisbon’s home league match with Estrela da Amadora tonight, Amorin did his best to deflect questions about Manchester United with a straight bat, insisting he would answer everything and all would become clear after the game.

Seeing as that would have been around 10.30pm tonight, Manchester United seem to have done the honourable thing (for the English media at least) by confirming the appointment during the day.

The press did manage to squeeze a few nuggets out of Amorim at yesterday’s gathering, however, including that he is ready for a “new challenge” and loves “everything” about the Premier League.

You can read the full report from that press conference here.

12:39 PM GMT

The Van Nistelrooy issue

James Ducker, Telegraph Sport’s northern football correspondent and specialist in all things round Manchester way, has written about the issue of a new head coach coming into the club along with his own backroom staff and the potential for friction with the current interim manager (and full-time assistant coach) Ruud van Nistelrooy being a club legend.

You can read his full piece here.

12:33 PM GMT

Speaking the lingo

The club’s official X account has welcomed their new head coach in his native tongue, writing “Welcome to Manchester United” in Portuguese...

12:26 PM GMT

Inside the negotiations

United believe they are appointing one of the most exciting and highly rated young coaches in European football who they feel has the style of play, personality, energy and winning mentality for the role as well, as a reputation for developing young players.

United insiders said Amorim was their first choice target to replace Ten Hag and that they did not hold conversations with any other managers.

Old Trafford sources believe Amorim has a “notably different profile from former head coaches” and will bring a new style and approach that taps in to what they say is a broader evolution of the club’s football structure.

United were aware of Amorim’s 30-day notice period before entering into discussions and say the compromise they have struck with Sporting means the coach will be available three weeks before he would otherwise have joined.

United respected it was a difficult situation for Sporting with important games ahead and recognised the Portuguese club’s desire to hold Amorim to the terms of his contract.

A United delegation led by chief executive Omar Berrada had travelled to Lisbon on Monday to speak to Sporting face to face and communicate their desire to appoint Amorim and explore an earlier release clause.

12:21 PM GMT

Carragher: Real test in 18 months

Writing in Telegraph Sport, Jamie Carragher says today that United can expect the traditional new manager bounce when Amorim takes over, but that the real test will be 18 months down the line when it will become clearer if he has crafted a team who can be serious contenders for the Premier League and Champions League.

Read Carragher’s full column here.

12:18 PM GMT

Have your say

12:15 PM GMT

Backroom team

United say the make-up of Amorim’s backroom staff will be confirmed in due course. But it is understood the 39-year-old wants to bring at least five staff with him from Sporting, including assistants Carlos Fernandes, Adelio Candido and Emanuel Ferro, goalkeeping coach Jorge Vital and sports scientist Paulo Barreira.

It remains to be seen what the future will hold for an array of United’s existing backroom staff including Ruud van Nistelrooy, assistant Rene Hake, first-team coaches Darren Fletcher and Andreas Georgson and goalkeeping coach Jelle ten Rouwelaar.

12:11 PM GMT

Ipswich away first up

Amorim will continue as Sporting manager until the international break and his first match in charge will be United’s trip to Ipswich on November 24.

He will be in charge of Sporting against Estrela on Friday night then they face Manchester City in a Champions League home tie on November 5.

The Portuguese manager’s final match with Sporting is likely to be Braga away on November 10.

12:07 PM GMT

No 1 candidate

The news has been expected since Amorim, 39, emerged as the No 1 candidate to replace Erik ten Hag, who was sacked by United on Monday.

It is understood that as well as triggering the £8.4 million release clause in Amorim’s contract, United will pay around an additional £1.7 million to secure early release from a 30-day notice period and a number of the Portuguese’s back room staff.

12:00 PM GMT

Amorim confirmed

Ruben Amorim has been confirmed as Manchester United’s new head coach.

Manchester United said in a statement: “The club is delighted to announce the appointment of Ruben Amorim as head coach of the men’s first team, subject to work visa requirements.

“He will join until June 2027 with a club option of an additional year, once he has fulfilled his obligations to his current club. He will join Manchester United on Monday 11 November.

“Ruben is one of the most exciting and highly rated young coaches in European football. Highly decorated as both a player and coach, his titles include winning the Primeira Liga twice in Portugal with Sporting CP; the first of which was the club’s first title in 19 years.

“Ruud van Nistelrooy will continue to take charge of the team until Ruben joins.”