Pep Guardiola says Manchester United would be getting a “high” level manager in Ruben Amorim but warned that won’t guarantee them success.
United appear to be closing in on the appointment of the Sporting CP boss after agreeing to pay the £8.3million to release him from his contract in Portugal.
Amorim, 39, is highly rated across Europe, a sentiment held by Manchester City boss Guardiola after getting a first-hand experience of his talents during games against them in the Champions League.
But while Guardiola believes Amorim is a quality manager, he believes the same can be said for all of United’s recent managers who have struggled to get things right at Old Trafford, including Erik ten Hag who was sacked on Monday.
“All I can talk about is the experience of playing twice against Ruben’s Sporting Lisbon team, one or two seasons ago, and the pressure was really, really good,” Guardiola said.
“I spoke with Matheus Nunes, and he was his player, and he speaks highly about him.
“And look this season, he is unbeaten and winning all the games in the Portuguese League and the Champions League, [they have] the same points as us. So a high manager.
“So a high manager. I hear that Man United are thinking about him, it’s because he’s a good manager.
“Man United don’t appoint managers who aren’t that level so the last five, six, seven years, we cannot say they are not able to lead Man United.
“What’s going to happen I don’t know, because what happened here in my experience, doesn’t mean it works for the other ones. The manager, the team, the club, the structures, the physios, the doctors, the players, it’s many things”.
🎙️ “Will you be in the dugout at Old Trafford on Sunday?”
👇 “I will be here [at Sporting]”
🎙️ “Definitely?”
🤣 “I don’t know”Ruben Amorim hints at his future amid Manchester United links 🧐 pic.twitter.com/esA402PmO5
— Sky Sports News (@SkySportsNews) October 29, 2024
City come up against Sporting in the Champions League next week, though it seems unlikely that Amorim will be in charge with United keen to make the appointment ahead of Sunday’s Premier League game against Chelsea.
Speaking after a 3-1 win over Nacional on Tuesday night, Amorim said he believes he will be in charge of Sporting’s game against Estrela da Amadora on Friday but then conceded that may also not be the case.
