- Ruben Amorim looks set to succeed Erik ten Hag as Man United manager
- West Ham held talks with Amorim earlier this year about replacing David Moyes
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The real reason West Ham chose not to replace David Moyes with Manchester United‘s new manager-in-waiting Ruben Amorim last season has been revealed.
Amorim, 39, looks set to succeed Erik ten Hag at Manchester United this week, with the Red Devils closing in on finalising a deal for the Sporting Lisbon boss.
But he could have arrived in the Premier League six months ago after jetting into England to hold talks with West Ham back in April.
The Hammers interviewed Amorim, but decided to stick with Moyes until the end of the season before bringing in Julen Lopetegui to replace the Scot in the summer.
It was initially thought that West Ham baulked at the £8.3m compensation fee they would have to pay Sporting for Amorim, plus additional fees for his staff, but it has now emerged that the east London club had another concern over appointing the Portuguese manager.
Ruben Amorim boarded a plane to meet West Ham’s owners over replacing David Moyes last season
West Ham chairman David Sullivan had concerns over Amorim’s lack of experience outside of Portugal
Amorim returned to Portugal after discussions with West Ham and was swarmed by journalists at the airport before apologising to Sporting Lisbon for the ‘completely wrong’ timing
West Ham opted to appoint Julen Lopetegui to replace David Moyes in the summer instead
A top spokesman for West Ham chairman David Sullivan told Hammers News: ‘There were many reasons we didn’t appoint Ruben (not just compensation and paying for staff).
‘He’s a great manager, but he’s a huge gamble AS HE’S ONLY DONE IT in his own country with one club.
‘We liked him very much, but we chose Julen.’
Amorim has never managed outside of Portugal before, but has coached three different teams in his homeland.
After hanging his boots up in 2016, he started managing Casa Pia two years later, before moving to Braga and then Sporting.
In his four years at Sporting, Amorim has won the Portuguese title twice after the club had previously gone almost two decades without winning their domestic league.
After speaking to West Ham in April, Amorim returned to Portugal and apologised to Sporting as he admitted the timing of the discussions had been ‘completely wrong’.
It appeared to have little effect on his side as they went on to triumph in the league the following month.
Sporting have also made the perfect start to this season, winning all nine of their league fixtures to date.
Amorim may have managed his final game at the club on Tuesday night as he led Sporting to a 3-1 victory against Nacional in the Portuguese Cup.
Amorim now looks set to join Man United, and may have managed his final Sporting game on Tuesday
Amorim is closing in on replacing Erik ten Hag after the Dutchman was sacked on Monday
When asked about his future after the game, Amorim refused to confirm that he will be joining United, but the Premier League club are hopeful of getting a deal over the line before they face Chelsea on Sunday.
Meanwhile, West Ham have made an indifferent start to the season under Lopetegui after passing up the opportunity to bring in Amorim.
They have lost four of their opening nine league matches, and have exactly the same number of points as United.
However, they did get the better of the Red Devils on Sunday as they secured a late 2-1 win in what proved to be Erik ten Hag’s final match, with United now turning to Amorim to get their season back on track.
