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The 39-year-old now finds himself within touching distance of the Manchester United job, just the latest step in an extraordinary and meteoric rise for a special talent with the world at his feet.
This afternoon, Sporting confirmed that United had signalled their intention to pay Amorim’s €10million (£8.3m) release clause in full in order to secure the Portuguese’s services at Old Trafford.
Ruud van Nistelrooy will take over the reins from Erik ten Hag on an interim basis for the time being, though, with the Red Devils taking on Leicester City for a place in the Carabao Cup quarter-finals tomorrow night.
While Amorim has so far remained tight-lipped amid the intense speculation, every man and his dog have given their thoughts and feelings on the manager’s impending switch, including club legends Peter Schmeichel, Paul Scholes and Dwight Yorke.
Iconic ex-United forward Cristiano Ronaldo is another known admirer of Amorim and shared a close bond with his fellow countryman during their time together with the Portuguese national team.
According to Portuguese football expert Marcus Alves, the five-time Ballon d’Or winner even came up with an affectionate nickname for Amorim which may go some way to explaining why United had been so charmed by his compatriot.
‘On the pitch, he has always delivered. Not even the constant sales in the transfer market have proved to be a problem for him,’ Alves told BBC Sport.
‘Under Amorim, no player is irreplaceable and more important than the club.
‘The Manchester United job may look like an impossible one right now, but so did Sporting’s when Amorim was unveiled as their head coach on March 5 2020.
‘Eloquent and outgoing, Amorim is irresistible and dominates the words in such a way that Cristiano Ronaldo …
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