It is said that Manchester United could get Ruben Amorim from Sporting CP for about £8.5 million because of an option in his contract. 

If the Red Devils want to replace Erik ten Hag, who was fired on Monday after a terrible start to the season, they are most interested in the 39-year-old. 

Ten Hag’s assistant Ruud van Nistelrooy has been put in charge for now, but United quickly started talking to Amorim and Sporting about activating the release option that would let him move to Old Trafford.

The Red Devils can get the Portuguese manager because of one of three clauses in his present contract, which lasts until 2026. 

A Bola newspaper in Portugal says that Amorim has a crazy £25m (€30m) release option for another club in the country. For anyone from outside the UK, that number drops to £17m (€20m). 

 For clubs that the news source calls the “sharks” of European football, the amount needed to free Amorim from his deal with Sporting drops even more. Real Madrid, Bayern Munich, Barcelona, Liverpool, Manchester City, Juventus, and United are a few of these teams.

Amorim has been linked with City if Pep Guardiola leaves next summer. This comes after it was announced that Hugo Viana, who is Guardiola’s director of football at Sporting, would take over Txiki Begiristain’s job at the Etihad last season. 

After being fired, Ten Hag was asked about the ties to United. On Monday, he said, “I was already expecting this question, and obviously I’m not going to talk about the future, because otherwise I’ll always have to comment.” I’m just happy to be the Sporting coach.

People say the 39-year-old is open to moving to Old Trafford. He was interviewed for management jobs at Liverpool and West Ham earlier this year.

Amorim was supposed to leave Sporting at the end of the season, but he found out earlier this month that United was interested and has since had two rounds of talks.

In the four years he has been in charge of Sporting, Amorim has taken the team to two Primeira Liga titles.