Man Utd to avoid Erik ten Hag repeat as Ruben Amorim 'burns bridges with two players'

Ruben Amorim is on the verge of being appointed Manchester United manager, and the Portuguese coach looks set to avoid making the same mistake Erik ten Hag made

Any hopes Ruben Amorim might have had of bringing Sporting CP's top stars with him to Manchester United are in tatters amid reports of dressing room unrest at the Lisbon club.

The 39-year-old is on the verge of a blockbuster move to Old Trafford, with United hoping to unveil him as Erik ten Hag's successor in the coming days after agreeing to pay his £8.3million release clause. Several Sporting players have been on United's radar for some time, and with Amorim on board, many expect formal approaches to be sanctioned in January.

But according to Portuguese outlet O Jogo, news of Amorim's potential departure has riled some of the players, including Red Devils targets Viktor Gyokeres and Morten Hjulmand. In fact, multiple players reportedly confronted the manager in training on Wednesday, citing the fact that they were "enticed" to stay with the Primeira Liga champions over the summer after being given assurances that Amorim would stay too.

It means the Portuguese coach might have trouble convincing certain individuals of following him to Manchester, though that might be a blessing in disguise given Ten Hag's record of bringing former players to United.

After arriving from Ajax in 2022, the Dutchman spent £129million on Antony and Lisandro Martinez, and later signed Andre Onana, Matthijs de Ligt and Noussair Mazraoui - three stars who also played under him at the Johan Cruyff Arena. Out of the five of them, Martinez is the only true success story thus far, though the Argentina international has been plagued with injury problems since he joined.

Antony, who arrived for a whopping £82m, has struggled significantly, with just five Premier League goals to his name in his two-plus year stint at Old Trafford. Onana's first season was marred by individual errors, and although the Cameroon goalkeeper has since found his footing, he has yet to become the reliable presence United had envisioned.

Meanwhile, De Ligt and Mazraoui, both of whom joined in the summer, have largely struggled to plug United's leaky defence, evidenced by the team's lack of clean sheets in recent weeks. United will obviously be keen to avoid the same fate under Amorim, but that hasn't stop them from fluttering their eyelids at a number of Sporting's top stars.

Gyokeres, who has 16 goals in 15 games so far this season, is one of them, though United aren't the only ones interested in the ex-Brighton and Coventry City striker. The likes of Arsenal, Liverpool, Chelsea and PSG are all monitoring the Swede, who reportedly has an £85m release clause in his contract.

Sporting skipper Hjulmand is also admired at United, and it's understood the club made an enquiry about the Danish midfielder over the summer. Elsewhere, defenders Goncalo Inacio and Ousmane Diomande have been linked with moves to Old Trafford, as have forwards Marcus Edwards, formerly of Tottenham, and Pedro Goncalves, formerly of Wolves.

That said, United chiefs reportedly told Amorim that a January transfer splurge wasn't in the pipelines because they want him to, first and foremost, get the best out of the club's current crop of players.

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