Twenty years ago it was Jose Mourinho. Now, it is Ruben Amorim who appears set to move from Portugal to the Premier League with a reputation as Europe's next coaching superstar.

Amorim has emerged as the favorite to take over at Manchester United following Erik ten Hag's sacking. His club Sporting Lisbon has confirmed the English club's interest.

Amorim is 39, two years younger than Mourinho when he left Porto and took over a Chelsea side poised to dominate English soccer.

Other coaches have come from Portugal with huge reputations, but not all have succeeded. Andre Villas-Boas, for example, failed to live up to expectations after following in Mourinho's footsteps from Porto to Chelsea in 2011.

But, everything about Amorim — who was also linked to the manager's job at Liverpool this year — suggests he could be something special, just as Mourinho famously proclaimed himself in 2004.

Yet, amid the interest, Amorim said on Tuesday his future "hasn't been decided yet".

"Nobody knows if this was my farewell match, or if there will still be a farewell match," Amorim said in a quote reported by Portugal's sports daily A Bola following Sporting's 3-1 win over Nacional in the Portuguese League Cup quarterfinals.

Hours earlier, Sporting released a statement to the Lisbon Stock Exchange, saying it has told United that Amorim has a release clause worth 10 million euros ($10.8 million) in his contract.

The Portuguese champion said United "has shown interest" in paying that amount for Amorim.

Making his name

As long ago as 2017, when Amorim confirmed his intention to become a coach, he told Tribuna Expresso: "I don't know if I am going to be good or bad, but that is what I am going to be."

Thirty-two at the time, he had just quit playing after injuries began to blight a fine career.

Amorim has made his name as a coach at Sporting, but he starred as a player for Lisbon's rival Benfica, the club he has supported from childhood.

"I can see myself coaching Benfica, or one of the world's biggest clubs. Obviously, only time will tell, and you need so much luck," he said.

Amorim began playing at Belenenses, based in the Lisbon suburb Belem, which is best known for its custard tarts.

There, he worked under Jorge Jesus, reaching the Portuguese Cup final in 2007.

In 2008 he joined Benfica, and a year later he was reunited with Jesus. Amorim mainly played at right-back, as a team featuring David Luiz and Angel Di Maria romped to the title.

The following season, Benfica was overtaken by Villas-Boas' Porto, and Amorim struggled with a knee injury.

He needed a loan move to Braga to relaunch his career, and went back to Benfica, and Jesus, in 2013.

Playing regularly in midfield, Amorim starred as Benfica won a domestic treble and lost the Europa League final on penalties to Sevilla.

His career never reached such highs again, and he ended his playing days in Qatar.

'Fanatical about winning'

Amorim has described Mourinho, who managed United from 2016 to 2018, as his reference, but he admits Jesus — now guiding Al Hilal in Saudi Arabia — impacted him more than any other coach after he spent seven years under his stewardship.

"It is funny, because as a player, I had lots of problems with Jesus, albeit other players did too, because Jesus is a coach who wears you out," Amorim recalled.

"He is a real perfectionist. I worked with him for a long time, and it is obvious that what I demand of players is quite similar to him."

Amorim, who appeared for Portugal at two World Cups, began coaching in 2018 at age 33, at Lisbon club Casa Pia, and his rise since has been astronomic.

He won the third-tier title there, but didn't have the necessary coaching qualifications to progress and left in early 2019.

Amorim really began his steep ascent upon joining Braga, managing its B team before being handed the first-team reins in December 2019.

He did so well that Sporting swooped, paying his 10-million-euro release clause.

Sporting had not won the Portuguese title since 2002, and its supporters had some concerns about his Benfica past.

"I am a professional, and I am fanatical about winning. I know how big this club is. I played against them. I am not hiding my past," he said at his unveiling.

In his first full season, Sporting won the title, losing just one game.

Amorim, who favors an intense pressing game, then took Sporting to the last 16 of the Champions League.

He won a second Portuguese title last season, and players such as English forward Marcus Edwards and Swede Viktor Gyokeres have flourished under him.

AFP