Rúben Amorim has admitted it “crossed his mind” that he could follow Sporting CP director of football Hugo Viana to Manchester City, but said he was only ever focused on becoming Manchester United’s new head coach.
Amorim will lead Sporting against City in the Champions League on Tuesday in his penultimate game as boss before taking the reins at Old Trafford.
His decision to succeed Erik ten Hag came just two weeks after City hired Viana, Sporting’s director of football, to replace Txiki Begiristain at the end of the season.
Amorim disclosed that he had thoughts about possibly working at the Etihad Stadium as well, but the 39-year-old insisted he’s happy with his decision to join United.
“It’s something that crosses your mind but I never had any doubts,” Amorim told a news conference on Monday.
“My decision has been made and that’s the club I want to work for. That’s where I want to continue my career as a coach. It crossed my mind, but I decided on the club I wanted and I didn’t want anything else. I wanted Manchester United and that’s what I did.”
Amorim, who will begin his new role on Nov. 11, and Pep Guardiola will go head-to-head in Lisbon on Tuesday a little over a month before they meet again in the Manchester derby at the Etihad on Dec. 15.
Plenty of United fans are likely to tune into Sporting’s game against City to get an early look at their new coach.
Amorim, however, has warned against assessing his suitability for the United job based on one match against Guardiola’s team.
“The conclusions that people will draw from this match are not important for me,” he said.
“If it’s a negative outcome [against City] the expectations will drop. If we win tomorrow, people will think the new Alex Ferguson has arrived and obviously it will be difficult to live up to that expectation.
“I’m not interested in the conclusions people will draw, what I’m interested in is to win the match and then start a new life in Manchester.
“We could have one situation or the other, it could increase expectations. I don’t know what is better for me.”