Ruben Amorim has explained why he is not ‘new Jose Mourinho’ amid Manchester United agreement

Ruben Amorim has distanced himself from comparisons with Jose Mourinho, having spoken to his Portuguese countryman last year prior to his scheduled appointment at Manchester United.

Sporting CP boss Amorim has agreed terms to become the successor to Erik ten Hag, who was sacked on Monday. Negotiations regarding a compensation package look to have come to a head, with United set to pay out £8.3million as per the terms of his existing contract.

There will be inevitable comparisons to Mourinho - who faced off against United with Fenerbahce last Thursday - given the former Porto coach is one of few managers to have left Portugal directly for the Premier League. However, Amorim has insisted he is not a 2.0 version of Mourinho.

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In his press conference after a Europa League knockout win over Arsenal in March 2023, Amorim explained that he had received a congratulatory message from the ex-United boss, who was then managing Roma.

When asked if he himself was a revamped version of Mourinho, he replied: “The new Mourinho? There will never be a new Mourinho. Mourinho is one of a kind. He’s already texted me, ‘The old and the new [Mourinho] are still in, I’ll see you in the next stage!’

“But there won’t be another Mourinho… The new Mourinho I won’t be, but I’m happy to carry on at Sporting’s project.”

Amorim - who had been linked with Liverpool and Manchester City - lifted the Portuguese title with Sporting last season, having previously broken the club's 19-year bogey by winning the league in 2021.

He boasts a 71.7 per cent win ratio in 227