Why Liverpool turned down Ruben Amorim before Man United manager talks

Ruben Amorim looks set to take over from the departed Erik ten Hag as new Man United head coach, having been turned down by Liverpool earlier in the year.

Sporting CP manager Amorim is the primary target for Man United after the dismissal of Ten Hag on Monday, with The Athletic reporting on their pursuit.

Talks are being held with the Portuguese club, with a release clause in his contract worth €10 million (£8.3m) making negotiations more straightforward.

If Amorim does take the job, as appears expected, he will become the 10th coach in the Man United dugout – permanent or otherwise – since Alex Ferguson’s retirement in 2013.

Liverpool’s interest in Amorim

Amorim will be a name familiar to most Liverpool supporters, of course, as the 39-year-old was heavily linked with the Reds this year.

With Jurgen Klopp stepping down from his role as manager, it seemed a two-horse race between Amorim and Xabi Alonso, with the Portuguese a more likely candidate as he was open to a move.

But Liverpool turned down the opportunity to hire him, instead opting for Arne Slot which, 13 games in, has proved a masterstroke with a record of 11 wins, one draw and one defeat.

Their decision not to pursue Amorim came down to a disagreement over his tactical approach, with the coach prepared to stick with his favoured 3-4-3 setup.

Why they rejected him

Sky Sports‘ Melissa Reddy explained in April: “Amorim was definitely on Liverpool’s shortlist, but despite all the external noise, he was never a leading candidate or the preferred candidate.

“The clubs made that pretty clear.

“Liverpool were saying ‘very good, we like him’, and he had ticked quite a few of the criteria to get onto the shortlist, but the biggest sticking point was the fact that his playing philosophy is so different.

“He likes to use three at the back – that doesn’t really stack up with Liverpool’s squad and their comfort in doing that.

“Also his long-term vision didn’t align with the Liverpool way, and remember Liverpool play the same way all through the age groups up, so you don’t want to disrupt that.

“I was also told that any suggestions that Amorim isn’t Liverpool’s pick because of financial reasons is just fiction, that’s absolutely not the case.

“The final thing to mention is there’s been a little bit of skepticism as to why it was so public that Amorim flew to have this talk with West Ham.

“One intermediary has suggested that it was possibly to put some pressure on Liverpool, but by that point Liverpool had already marked Slot as their leading candidate.”

Amorim was forced to publicly apologise for flying to the UK for talks with West Ham in April – days before Sporting would play title rivals Porto – while in May he admitted it was him who “created the soap opera.”