Ruben Amorim suffers setback ahead of Man United move

This is not a good start

Despite plans to fly to Manchester overnight following his last game in charge of Sporting Lisbon yesterday, which they won 4-2, the Portuguese manager is yet to receive his work permit.

It means the 39-year-old cannot yet take charge of Manchester United as initially planned.

He left Sporting with a 100 per cent record in the league this season after 11 games but will now turn his attention to lifting United out the bottom half of the table.

The Reds find themselves in 13th following a disastrous start to the season under Erik ten Hag.

However, the Reds faired better under interim manager Ruud van Nistelrooy who was unbeaten in his four games in charge, including yesterday's 3-0 victory over Leicester.

One of Amorim's first tasks will be to decide on whether the Dutchman has a place at the club he used to play for going forward. Amorim has brought his own backroom staff with him to Manchester.

During his time in charge there has been mutual love and respect shared between Van Nistelrooy and his players, many of whom have made their feelings clear about his future.

Following their game against Leicester yesterday Matthijs de Ligt said: "I can only speak of my experience and I think he was really valuable as an assistant.

"As a manager, he knows the club. Obviously he knows what gets asked for with certain players, together with the crowd also. So yeah in my opinion, but in the end it’s the decision of the manager."

Amorim's start to life at Manchester United will be further hampered by the international break which means that when he arrives, much of his squad will be away.

However, he has just under a fortnight to prepare for his first game in charge which comes against Ipswich on November 24.

He will not have to face the press until his pre-match press conference ahead of that game giving him little distraction from the task in hand.