Man Utd confirm Ruben Amorim as new head coach

Manchester United have announced Ruben Amorim as their new head coach.
Amorim has signed a two-and-a-half-year contract that will tie him to the club until June 2027 with the option of another year, United confirmed in an official statement on Friday.
United have also confirmed that Amorim will take charge of Sporting’s next three matches, against Estrela on Friday night, Manchester City in the Champions League next Tuesday and Braga on Sunday week, before officially joining the club on November 11. Amorim takes the title of head coach rather than manager.
Ruud van Nistelrooy will remain in interim charge – following Erik ten Hag’s sacking on Monday – for the games against Chelsea on Sunday, PAOK Salonika next Thursday and Leicester three days later.
Van Nistelrooy, who was brought on to Ten Hag’s coaching staff in the summer, oversaw a 5-2 Carabao Cup win over Leicester in his first game as caretaker manager on Wednesday.
Amorim is due to speak to the media after Friday night’s Portuguese league match against Estela and Telegraph Sport will provide live coverage of that on this page.
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.
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
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.
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.”
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…
“It’s a perfect match for a club like this” 🙌Diogo Dalot on Ruben Amorim’s appointment at Manchester United 👊 pic.twitter.com/5tzramn4zZ
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.
Telegraph Sport columnist speaking on Sky Sports
Yeah I think, just a touch (in response to question if Amorim will be an upgrade on Ten Hag). Amorim had huge success in Portugal and people might look at that and say it’s not on the level of the Premier League but you can only manage where you are and what he’s done at Sporting is outstanding. It was a long time since they’d won the title before he came in
He has very good pedigree and he’ll be looking to take that into United and win trophies.
I felt Ten Hag faltered a bit with his personality, man management, charisma… it didn’t feel like he owned the room when he spoke to the press, I’m not sure about with the players, but all the great managers have had that [charisma]. Amorim has got to feel and look like the man in control.
United have looked like one of the easiest teams to play against in the Premier League over the last 15 months and that can’t happen. Ten Hag won trophies but in terms of getting them back competing for the Champions League and Premier League, you can’t be that easy to play against.
The fact that Amorim plays maybe a 3-4-3 system is different and it might suit them in that they have five or six centre-backs on the books. Do the full-backs look more like wing-backs? And going further forward – looking at Bruno and Rashford – does the system suit both of them or one or another? It will be interesting to see how he fits those two players in.
It’s not going to be easy for him, we know it’s a big job, but they have a squad that should be competing for maybe just outside the Champions League, but they are not a million miles away if they get back to being organised and believe in what the manager is doing. He needs to make them competitive again. 
The big step is to win the league or European Cup. That’s the toughest one. I don’t think that’s too difficult for Amorim to achieve in the next couple of years.
Rio Ferdinand had a chat with Nani, who reckons the United players will run through walls for their new gaffer…
Rúben Amorim the new @ManUtd manager! Welcome 👌🏽 #MUFC pic.twitter.com/BIDe3mMJdm
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.
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.
Comunicado #SportingCP sobre a saída de Rúben Amorim.👉 https://t.co/Dx2bLnefUq pic.twitter.com/fY7u97OtCS
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. 
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.
The club’s official X account has welcomed their new head coach in his native tongue, writing “Welcome to Manchester United” in Portuguese…
It’s done.Bem-vindo ao Manchester United, Ruben Amorim 🇵🇹🤝🔴#MUFC
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.
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.
‘Ruben Amorim will hit the ground running at Man Utd but his big challenge comes in 18 months’✍️ @Carra23#TelegraphFootball | #MUFC
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.
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. 
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.
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.”