‘Weeks rather than days’: When Amorim is poised to oversee his first Man Utd game after notice period announced

Manchester United are closing in on what’s likely to be their most crucial acquisition of INEOS’ reign thus far: a new manager. 

When reports first emerged of the Red Devils’ interest in Ruben Amorim yesterday, talks quickly progressed and saw an agreement in principle reached between the club and manager a matter of hours after Erik ten Hag’s sacking. 

As such, it left little time for fans to speculate over who’d be succeeding the Dutchman long-term. The likes of Thomas Frank, Marco Silva and even Ole Gunnar Solskjaer found themselves linked with the vacancy, though United executives had their sights set on Amorim.

United made to wait for Amorim’s arrival

Given that he’s tied to Sporting Lisbon until 2026, United were well aware that they’d have no choice but to fork out his release clause, believed to be in the region of £8.3 million, to buy him out of his contract. They were more than willing to do so due to the significant lack of options on the free agent market.

However, supporters have since come to learn that they may have to wait a lengthy period before seeing their new man in the dugout. There were hopes that he’d be in charge in time for Sunday’s clash at home to Chelsea, but new details have emerged detailing his notice period with the Portuguese outfit, which is reportedly a matter of ‘weeks rather than days’ – per MailSport. 

This means that the first match of Amorim’s tenure may come after the November international break when the Reds travel to face Premier League newbies Ipswich Town, managed by former coach Kieran McKenna, on the 24th.

Should that be the case, the fixtures that interim Ruud van Nistelrooy will oversee are this Wednesday’s Carabao Cup tie against Leicester City and Chelsea at the weekend, followed by PAOK (Europa League) on November 7 and the Foxes in the league on November 10.