Ruben Amorim: Portuguese Coach, Sporting Titles, Man United Exit and AC Milan

Ruben Amorim says he will do a job for exactly as long as he said he would, and then move on. He said so in January 2026 at Elland Road, and the next day Manchester United announced he was gone. Five months later he was appointed head coach of AC Milan, and this week Ghanaian and Kenyan football fans were searching for the club as it prepared for a Europa League trip to RB Salzburg under what Goal.com described as mounting pressure. This is the story of the Portuguese coach, from a midfielder with a broken arm to Serie A.

A midfielder from Lisbon

Amorim was born in Lisbon on 27 January 1985. He started in Benfica’s youth team, was released, and went on trial with Belenenses, reportedly playing with a broken arm. He made his Primeira Liga debut on 14 December 2003, playing a single minute in a 2–0 win over Alverca, and played in the 2007 Portuguese Cup final for the club (Wikipedia).

In April 2008 he signed a four-year deal with Benfica and spent most of his playing career there. He won three league titles, a Taça de Portugal and five Taças da Liga, plus the Supertaça, for ten major titles overall. His seasons were broken up by knee surgery in January 2011 and a falling-out with coach Jorge Jesus, which led to a loan to Braga in 2012. A serious knee injury in August 2014 on an artificial pitch at Boavista kept him out until February 2015. After a year at Al-Wakrah in Qatar, he retired on 4 April 2017 at 32 after a complete rupture of the cruciate ligament in his right knee.

For Portugal he was capped 14 times, including two World Cups. He joined the squad in South Africa in 2010 as a replacement for the injured Nani, and in 2014 played the full 90 minutes of the 2–1 win over Ghana, a result that still did not take Portugal out of the group.

Learning to coach

After retirement he worked towards his licence through the Lisbon Football Association, took a postgraduate course in psychomotor education, and spent a week-long internship with José Mourinho at Manchester United. He started coaching at third-tier Casa Pia in 2018–19. After two defeats he announced that he would quit if he lost the third, switched to a back three for the first time, and went on an unbeaten run. That system, a 3-4-3, became his signature. In January 2019 Casa Pia were docked six points and he was suspended for giving instructions without the required coaching level; he resigned afterwards.

In September 2019 he took over Braga’s reserves and, three months later, replaced Ricardo Sá Pinto as first-team coach. He won the 2020 Taça da Liga final against Porto with a last-minute goal and recorded Braga’s first win at Benfica in 65 years.

Sporting CP: ending a 19-year wait

Sporting took him in March 2020, paying €10 million for his services, then the third-highest fee ever for a coach. In 2020–21 his team went on a national-record 32-match unbeaten streak and won the Primeira Liga for the first time in 19 years, along with the league cup. He was named Primeira Liga Manager of the Year. A further league cup and the 2021 Supertaça followed. In 2021–22 he became the fastest coach to win 50 games in the Primeira Liga.

It was not all smooth. The 2022–23 season included a Champions League group-stage exit and a loss to Liga 3 side Varzim in the Taça de Portugal. Sporting beat Arsenal on penalties in the Europa League before going out to Juventus, and finished fourth in the league. After the season, he admitted his own position was at risk.

In 2023–24 he led Sporting, now with striker Viktor Gyökeres, to a second league title on 5 May 2024, the club’s 20th. Before the title was sealed he made a trip to London to speak with West Ham, then publicly apologised for it, saying the timing was wrong. He left Sporting after a 4–2 win over Braga on 10 November 2024, with eleven league wins from eleven.

Manchester United

United announced his appointment on 1 November 2024, on a contract to 2027. He began with a 1–1 draw at Ipswich, won his first Premier League game 4–0 against Everton, and won his first Manchester derby, 2–1 away. But the 2024–25 season ended with United in the bottom half of the table and beaten 1–0 by Tottenham in the Europa League final. After a loss to Brighton in January 2025 he called the team “probably the worst team in the history” of the club.

The next season brought spending on Benjamin Sesko, Bryan Mbeumo, Matheus Cunha and Senne Lammens, and an EFL Cup exit on penalties against League Two Grimsby Town. There were highs: United’s first win at Anfield since 2016 on 20 October 2025, and a Premier League Manager of the Month award. But from November, United won three of eleven games. After a 1–1 draw at Leeds on 4 January 2026 he said that he was a manager, not just a head coach, called on the club’s scouts and sporting director to “do their jobs”, and said he would do his job for 18 months “and then we move on”. The club announced his departure the next day. His record was 24 wins, 18 draws and 21 defeats in 63 games, a 38% win rate (Wikipedia).

AC Milan

AC Milan appointed him on 16 June 2026, on a contract to 2028, to replace Massimiliano Allegri. His first match, on 23 August, was a 2–1 win at Torino, which made him the first Milan manager to win a first Serie A game since Leonardo in August 2009. He followed that with a 2–0 home win against Venezia. In the Europa League he faced a reported need to deliver, and he has said, in the Goal.com report, that “it is always the Champions League”, highlighting the competition’s importance to him. Milan’s trip to Salzburg was the next test, according to OneFootball.

Style and reputation

Amorim is known for the 3-4-3: three centre-backs, two wing-backs, and a pressing line led by the number nine. At Sporting the wing-back roles were filled by players such as Pedro Porro and Nuno Mendes. At United, critics said the squad was never built for it, and Gary Neville and Paul Scholes publicly questioned his approach. He has described Jorge Jesus as his teacher and José Mourinho as a role model, while admiring Pep Guardiola. Supporters point to his habit of promoting young players at Sporting, and his communication style has been praised by Bruno Fernandes and others. He was also criticised at United for comments about two teenage academy players in December 2025.

Honours

As a player at Benfica: three Primeira Liga titles (2009–10, 2013–14, 2014–15), the Taça de Portugal (2013–14), five Taças da Liga and the 2014 Supertaça. As a manager: the 2020 Taça da Liga with Braga; the Primeira Liga in 2020–21 and 2023–24, the Taça da Liga in 2020–21 and 2021–22 and the 2021 Supertaça with Sporting; Europa League runner-up with Manchester United in 2024–25; Premier League Manager of the Month for October 2025.

Sources

• Wikipedia
• Goal.com
• OneFootball
• Google Trends