Amorim: Man Utd was my only option – Man City was never a possibility

Ruben Amorim says he never had doubts about taking over at Old Trafford ahead of his first Manchester derby this weekend.

Before becoming the new Manchester United boss, the Portuguese was linked with replacing Pep Guardiola at Manchester City.

Amorim had a close relationship with Sporting director of football Hugo Viana before it was announced he would be taking up a similar position at the Etihad Stadium.

Guardiola has since committed his future to City but Amorim has underlined that he was only ever focused on becoming United’s new head coach ahead of his first Manchester derby this Sunday, live on Sky Sports.

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“We never had [a conversation]. This was my only option,” said Amorim.

“When Manchester United talked to me, I had no doubts because I already had something in my mind that it could be a possibility.

“With Manchester City or Hugo Viana, there was nothing about that.”

Thursday’s Europa League comeback win at Viktoria Plzen saw United take a giant stride towards the knockout phase and boosted their chances of finishing in the top eight, meaning they would bypass the play-off round.

It was a welcome shot in the arm ahead of Sunday’s trip to stumbling rivals City and another step forward as Amorim attempts to build the side in his image.

The 39-year-old is used to handling the pressure of a derby from his days facing Benfica with Sporting – and he is relishing his first in England.

“I don’t really focus on the details – I just want to improve the team,” he added. “I can’t live it like a normal derby, like it should be where there are two great teams fighting for the title.

“It’s not like that at the moment so it is just one more game against a very good opponent.

“Both teams are struggling at this moment and I hope in the future it can have that real feeling of a derby.

“I know that it is really important for our fans but my goal now is to improve the team by winning games. We’ll try to win this game.

“The great teams can respond at any moment. They are in a better place than us in terms of their understanding of the game, the way they play and the confidence they have – even in these kinds of moments.

“We have a lot to focus on in our team, so of course we will have a strategy and we’ll try to win the game with it.”

During the week, City slumped to their seventh defeat in 10 games in all competitions as they were beaten 2-0 at Juventus in the Champions League.

Second-half goals from Dusan Vlahovic and Weston McKennie at the Allianz Stadium left Guardiola’s side languishing in 22nd place in the standings.

With just two games of the league phase remaining, a place in the top eight and automatic last-16 qualification looks beyond them and they face a battle just to stay in the top 24 and claim a play-off spot.

Amorim has already beaten City this season, with his Sporting side winning 4-1 in their Champions League tie. So is this a good time to be playing them?

“I never think about these kinds of things,” he said. “We will face a great opponent so I’m more focused on our problems.

“We have a lot of issues here. I’m more focused on what we should do on Sunday to win the game.”

Andre Onana’s error resulted in ex-Burnley striker Matej Vydra putting Plzen ahead early in the second half, but United substitute Rasmus Hojlund quickly levelled before lashing home two minutes from time to secure Amorim’s first away win as United boss.

Responding to a question on Onana’s form, Amorim added: “We have to take it as it is. He’s had a situation like this in the past so we have to work on this.

“We’re trying to build up a lot with the goalkeeper, making the bounce [pass] with Matthijs [de Ligt] a lot of times. On this occasion, we had a disconnect during the play.

“We suffered a difficult goal but we managed to recover.”