Ruben Amorim confirms offers from two clubs before Man Utd move | OneFootball

Manchester United were not the first club to trigger the release clause in Ruben Amorim's contract with Sporting CP, but neither of the previous two approaches appealed to the Portuguese coach.

Amorim has established himself a reputation in recent years as one of Europe's brightest coaching talents, restoring Sporting to the pinnacle of Portuguese football by winning two of the last four Primeira Liga titles and overseeing a perfect start to 2024/25 to emphatically end a 19-year drought.

United paid a €10m (£8.4m) clause to break Amorim from his contract in Lisbon and make him their permanent replacement for Erik ten Hag and the club's first-ever head coach in structural change.

Triggering the clause made the decision to leave entirely Amorim's, removing Sporting from the process, and he was won over by the opportunity, so accepted the call.

"It's not the first time I've had a clause paid by another club. Nor the second," Amorim himself revealed to the media in Portugal in the wake of United's announcement – he will formally start work in Manchester next Monday after serving a brief notice period.

"I [could have] earned three times more with the last club that [was willing to] pay my clause. It was a choice. I was comfortable and very happy [at Sporting]. I wanted that [Manchester United] and that context," he added, choosing not to reveal the identity of the first two suitors.

Amorim was targeted by two clubs earlier this year / Carlos Rodrigues/GettyImages

But Portuguese publication A BOLA has done the digging on who those clubs were, naming West Ham United and Cristiano Ronaldo's Al Nassr.

West Ham were interested in Amorim towards the end of last season in April, even holding talks as they weighed up sacking David Moyes. Amorim actually publicly apologised for engaging with the Hammers at the time, calling it a "mistake" and admitting the nature of it was "disrespectful".

An English report last week as Amorim was in the process of being appointed at Old Trafford spun it the other way and claimed West Ham rejected him and backed out due to a lack of experience.

Al Nassr, who have had a strong Portuguese-speaking contingent at player and coaching level in recent years, were looking for a new boss in September when Luis Castro was let go. But with Amorim seemingly not interested in moving to Saudi Arabia, despite the riches on offer, the club turned to former AC Milan coach Stefano Pioli instead.