Manchester United boss Ruben Amorim insists he never had any contact with the Manchester City hierarchy, having previously been touted as a successor to Pep Guardiola. Amorim replaced Erik ten Hag as United boss last month after an impressive four-year spell in charge of Portuguese side Sporting CP. United go toe-to-toe with City on Sunday afternoon at Etihad Stadium.
Before taking the helm at Old Trafford, however, reports linked Amorim to a spate of managerial positions, including at West Ham United, Liverpool and City.
Amorim, though, has revealed there was no contact or firm interest from City before he took the job with their red rivals.
“Never, I never had [conversations]. This was my only option,” Amorim told a press conference on Friday of his links to the Etihad.
“When Manchester United talked to me, I had no doubts because I had already something in my mind that it could be a possibility. And with Manchester City or Hugo Viana, nothing about that’
Amorim will have his first taste of a Manchester derby on Sunday, as United travel to take on a City side with just one win in their last 10 games across all competitions.
“The great teams can respond in any moment, and I think they are in a better place than us in the type of understanding the game, the way they play, the confidence they have,” Amorim said.
Even in these kind of moments, we have a lot to focus on in our team. Of course we have a strategy to try to win the game with the strategy like it should be. But we are focused just on our team.
“We will face a great opponent and I’m more focused on our problem. So we have a lot of issues here.
“So I’m more focused on what we should do on Sunday to win the game. So I’m really focused on my team.”
