Manchester United news LIVE: Ruben Amorim officially announced as new manager with club statement

The interim boss said: “I decided to come back here for a very important reasons, that I am here as an assistant, I came here to help the club forward and I am still very motivated to do so in any capacity, as an assistant and now an interim and after that I go back to my assistant contract that I have for this season and next. I am very motivated to stay here and help the club forward. That’s my goal.

“I can speak about my side of the story and when a new manager is signing and conversations take place we have to see how things develop.

“I want to do everything I can with my abilities to help this club.”

Ruben Amorim said the “soap opera” about his future is ending as he suggested his move to Manchester United will be announced on Friday evening.

United will activate the 39-year-old’s £8.3m release clause with Sporting Lisbon but they are negotiating with the Portuguese champions to ensure Amorim does not have to serve a 30-day notice period, while they also want to agree terms to bring his backroom staff to Old Trafford.

Sporting hope to keep Amorim until the November international break - which would mean he would face Manchester City in the Champions League on Tuesday - and they host Estrela on Friday night, with Amorim believing he will be able to provide more of an update then.

Ruud van Nistelrooy always promised goals for Manchester United. There were 36 in his first season as a player, 44 in his second. There were seven in his first game as their interim manager, five of them for United. The third-lowest scorers in the Premier League, United discovered a prolific streak under him. If it is to prove his lone evening in charge of United, what a night for him.

It was a nostalgia trip when Van Nistelrooy headed down the tunnel at half-time to be serenaded by the Stretford End. The choruses of his name, the guttural growls of “Ruud”, may have transported them back to 2003, to a happier time, and if United can forever seek solace in their past, when actually needing to escape it, this was an enjoyable interlude before Ruben Amorim’s tenure begins, assuming it does and depending on when it actually starts.

Diogo Dalot spoke to Sky Sports after yesterday’s win over Leicester City in the Carabao Cup and gave an insight into the dressing room following Erik ten Hag’s dismissal on Monday.

“Yes it is [sad], we felt it.” he said, “The day after was a really sad day for us, for everybody. He was a man that breathes football 100%. This is what he loves the most but it’s part of football.

“Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn’t.

“We wish him all the best and thank him for everything he did for us. Personally, he helped a lot. He helped him to break through at this club, he gave me all the confidence that I needed to show that I deserved to play for this club and overall we win two trophies together. We keep good memories.”

Dalot was also asked his thoughts on United’s potential new manager Ruben Amorim and he added: “Obviously he’s a good manager. We don’t know if he’s coming or not. We see the rumours like everybody sees it but we just focus on what we have here, doing on job then what the future brings we will be ready.”

Ruben Amorim told the press yesterday that he will talk about all things Man Utd after Sporting’s match with Estrela tonight.

More updates after Estrela game

He said: “I know you travelled here to talk about it and that’s natural, but we’ll leave that until the end of the game [when] I’ll talk about all these issues. Right now I want the team to focus and me too.

“I promise I’ll talk about it at the end of the game [on Friday] and everything will be clearer. By talking now, it’s destabilising the squad further.

“Right now, the focus is on Estrela da Amadora. As for doing things differently, I wouldn’t. I didn’t control any of the situation.”

Speaking ahead of Wednesday’s win over Leicester City, Manchester United’s interim boss Ruud van Nistelrooy told Sky Sports: “It’s been a hectic day, especially yesterday when the players came in after Erik had gone.

“We had to stabilise and go out for training, get back to work and bring them in today for a team talk about our opponents and especially ourselves.

“What it’s about to play at Old Trafford in front of these wonderful fans, who always support us. We want to give them a great night of football with possession and lots of attacks.

“That is what Manchester United is about, I tried to share that with the players and get them ready for game.”

It seems his team talk worked as United scored five past the Foxes with Casemiro and Bruno Fernandes both scoring twice as they helped their side into the Carabao Cup quarter-finals.

Will Van Nistelrooy have similar words of wisdom ahead of the weekend’s clash with Chelsea?

Tottenham manager Ange Postecoglou spoke in his press conference ahead of the weekend and touched on being drawn against Manchester United in the Carabao Cup.

He was asked about what it will be like to face Ruben Amorim’s United. The Spurs boss replied: “I’ve only just heard that Ruben has been appointed so he will have his feet firmly under the desk by then and I’m looking forward to meeting him.

“It’s a good draw in terms of it’s a home game which, for all clubs, is welcome because you know it isn’t going to be an easy game whoever you play.

“Being at home for us against a club like United, it will be a really good fixture, but you expect that at the quarter-final or semi-final stage of a competition.”

Jamie Carragher says that new Manchester United boss Ruben Amorim can handle the step up to the Premier League and backed him to continue his progress.

He told Sky Sports News: “He’s a young manager, so it’s a huge job for him.. I don’t think he’s moved out of Lisbon too much, so even off the field it will be a big change.

“We talk about managers having not managed a big club but every manager starts somewhere. It’s a journey to get to the top.

“Sir Alex Ferguson had to make that jump from Aberdeen and had great success. It was a completely different stratosphere to Man Utd and that will be the same for Amorim.

“But that’s the journey managers take. They all have to make this jump. He will have to come up against that. Going up against Porto and Benfica will stand him in good stead because there’s huge competition in the Premier League now, with some of the best managers in the world.

“But Amorim has made huge progress already in his managerial career and he will want that to continue.”

If Ruben Amorim’s task of restoring Manchester United to the champions of England looks nigh on impossible from the team’s lowly current position, at least he is a manager with form for remarkable transformation.

Amorim took charge of Sporting CP in March 2020, as a 35-year-old coach with only two months’ experience managing in the Portuguese top flight. He inherited a giant club without a league title in 18 years, in disarray on and off the field after the exits of key players Raphinha, Bas Dost and Bruno Fernandes – ironically now set to be his captain at Old Trafford.

Southampton boss Russell Martin was asked for his thoughts on Ruben Amorim’s appointment and believes it will be a ‘good one’ if Man Utd’s technical director Jason Wilcox was involved.

Wilcox was a previous director of football at Southampton.

Martin said: “If Jason Wilcox has had anything to do with the appointment it will be a good one. He’s a brilliant coach, I’ve watched a lot of his team and they are brilliant. I admire the way his team plays. He’ll do a brilliant job at Manchester United.”