The Chelsea owners dismissed Thomas Tuchel and struck out on Graham Potter, and reports suggest they could be set for another expensive managerial change in the form of Sporting CP’s Ruben Amorim, who has long been on the radar at Stamford Bridge.
Here’s all you need to know about one of the most intriguing young managers in Europe.
Ruben Amorim’s career so far
A reliable midfielder who won three Primeira Liga titles with Benfica, Amorim’s playing career was pushed towards an early end with an ACL injury in 2015. He terminated his contract with Benfica two years later and switched his focus to coaching at the age of 32.
A short spell with third-tier side Casa Pia preceded a move to Braga’s reserves in 2019, and here began the whirlwind nature of his career. Amorim was promoted to the senior side three months later, led Braga to victory over Porto in the Taca da Liga final and went unbeaten across 11 domestic games, convincing Sporting to pay a cool €10m to buy him out of his contract in 2020 – the third-highest fee ever paid for a manager at the time.
After using his debut season to settle in and build his identity, Amorim’s Sporting won the league title in 2021/22 with a squad that included promoted youngsters like Goncalo Inacio, Nuno Mendes and Matheus Nunes.
One of Amorim’s biggest successes has been the development of players who have been sold for immense profits. Matheus Nunes (€62m), Manuel Ugarte (€60m), Pedro Porro (€45m), Nuno Mendes (€40m) and Joao Palhinha (€21m) all blossomed into superior players under Amorim, while the likes of Inacio, Ousmane Diomande, Viktor Gyokeres and Morten Hjulmand have all been tipped to leave for huge sums.
