Man United’s appointment of Ruben Amorim hits major stumbling block

United want him in place by Sunday 

Erik Ten Hag’s time as Manchester United manager ended on Monday. The club sacked the Dutch coach after a terrible start to the season, with the Red Devils currently in 14th place with 11 points from nine games.

The 2-1 loss to West Ham United on Sunday was the final straw for the Old Trafford decision-makers.

Man United, who lost 3-0 at home to Liverpool and Tottenham Hotspur already this season, have opted to make a change to try to salvage their season.

Ruud van Nistelrooy, the former Red Devils striker, has been named as interim manager.

However, United did not waste time in looking to appoint a successor to Ten Hag, with Amorim reportedly having already agreed to become the next United manager.

The club have informed Sporting of their intent to pay the Portuguese manager's release clause of £8.3m, wanting him in place for their big crunch match against Chelsea this Sunday.

Unfortunately for United fans, Amorim might not arrive in Manchester until December thanks to the manager having a 30-day notice period in his contract.

This means, if United cannot find a way to negotiate a way around this, the 39-year-old will not be able to take charge of Manchester United until the festive period begins, a long wait seeing the current state of the club.

After Sporting beat Nacional in the Portuguese cup on Tuesday, Amorim said: “Nobody knows if it was my last match. It’s something still not decided … When and if I take that decision I will say it.”

Sporting play at home to Estrela Amadora in the league on Friday night.