The president of Sporting CP, Frederico Varandas, has described the growing interest around the club’s coach Ruben Amorim as positive.
Manchester City they have been heavily linked with the high profile coach as a candidate in the event that Pep Guardiola does not extend his contract beyond this season. Manchester United have it too as contacted with Amorim as part of his search for alternatives to the perennially under pressure Erik ten Hag.
Rather than be upset by the outside interest, Varandas has presented the rumors as a compliment.
“When will I lose Ruben Amorim?” the president asked himself in an interview with A Ball in October “I’ve been hearing this question for more than four years, that for me, and I think this should make all Sporting fans proud and even all the media. It’s questioning as one of the best coaches of the world has been at Sporting for five years, that’s fantastic.”
While Amorim’s future is uncertain, Sporting have lost their transfer specialist Hugo Viana to City. The club new football manager will replace the revered Txiki Begiristain at the end of the season, raising doubts about Guardiola’s future given his long relationship with his former Barça teammate.
“Our role as administrators is to live in the future and when I’m living in the future, I’ve been prepared for several years because if this piece comes out, what piece is going to come in,” Varandas explained. “Today, the three of us (Varandas, Viana and Amorim) have a friendly relationship.
“Today it is a fact that Ruben Amorim has a contract with Sporting until 2026. And today it is a fact that Hugo Viana will be Manchester City’s sporting director next year.”
Sporting activated the €20m (£16.7m) buyout clause in Amorim’s Braga contract to bring the young tactician to Lisbon in 2020. At the end of his first full season, Amorim won the club’s first league title since 2002, when Cristiano Ronaldo he was about to break.
Amorim achieved this impressive feat – and led the club to another league title last season – despite their captain, Bruno Fernandes, being sold to Manchester United. the pattern gave an encouraging review of his former manager earlier this month and backed him to succeed if he came to England.
