Who is Ruben Amorim? Football’s new Mourinho takes over as Man United head coach

Manchester United found their replacement for Erik ten Hag on Friday, naming Ruben Amorin as their next head coach. Amorim, who is 39-years-old, joins from Portugal’s Sporting CP, and has signed a contract until June 2027, with an option for an additional year.
Amorim is set to join United on November 11 (Monday). United have reportedly paid Sporting an extra 1 million Euros on top of his 10 million Euros exit clause for an early release from his 30-day notice period.
Amorim is a former player, and played mainly as a midfielder. He spent most of his career with Belenenses and Benfica, winning ten major titles with the latter, including three league titles, one Taça de Portugal, five Taças da Liga and one Supertaça Cândido de Oliveira.
Amorim also represented Portugal in two FIFA World Cups, registering 14 caps in total.
upon retiring in 2017, he began his coaching career at Casa Pia in 2018, and then resigned in the same year. He took over as head coach at Braga B, and then took charge of the first team in December 2019, leading them to the 2020 Taca da Liga title.
Amorim was named as manager of Sporting CP in March 2020, which also made him the third-most expensive manager ever. Then, he led the club to a double, winning the Taca da Liga and Primeira Liga, also ending the latter’s 19-year league title drought.
He won the Primeira Liga’s Manager of the Year award for the 2020-21 season, and also led them to another Primeira Liga title in the 2023-24 season.
Amorim’s rise as head coach has seen him receive comparisons with Jose Mourinho. In the past, Amorim said, “There are coaches who have a way of watching the game that I like, like Guardiola, but for me, the role model is Mourinho, because I watch the ball in a way that’s more similar to [Mourinho], that is, he analyses the opponents very well and sets his team up, not just with a certain style of play but thinking a lot about how to adapt to win.”
He is known for his tactical knowledge, flexibility, and communication skills. He has named Portuguese coach Jorge Jesus as an influence, and played under him in Belenenses, Braga and Benfica. In Sporting, he used mainly a 3-4-3 formation, and also used the 3-4-3 setup.
He is joining a side that was underperforming under Erik ten Hag. But since Ten Hag’s sacking, United thrashed Leicester City 5-2 in their EFL Cup Round of 16 fixture. Casemiro, who was seen as a weak link in Ten Hag’s playing XI, was rock solid, and bagged a brace, including a long-range screamer. The match also saw a brace from Bruno Fernandes, with Alejandro Garnacho also finding the back of the net.
Amorim’s first task will be to find the perfect combination and to make some tough decisions. When Ten Hag moved to United, he also bought Antony with him from Ajax. United signed him for a reported transfer fee of 82 million Pounds, with a further 5 million in add-ons, making it the third-highest transfer fee ever paid by the club.
However, Antony’s performances since his arrival have been far from impressive, despite Ten Hag’s defense of his selection based on strong training displays. Supporters are looking to Amorim to make tough decisions, possibly reshaping the squad dynamics and considering more opportunities for emerging talents like Amad Diallo. Another challenge for the former player will be to establish a solid and dependable center-back pairing that could provide the stability United needs.