Former Man Utd boss Ruben Amorim is closing in on a return to management, five months after he departed Old Trafford
Ruben Amorim
Ruben Amorim was sacked by Man United in January.(Image: 2024 Manchester United FC)
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AC Milan are closing in on the appointment of Ruben Amorim. The former Manchester United head coach has been out of work since being sacked in January, but he is expected to land the AC Milan job.
United conclude their pre-season tour this summer with a friendly against Milan at the Tarczynski Arena in Wroclaw, Poland, meaning a reunion with Amorim is on the cards.
Amorim was sacked by United in January amid rising tensions with the board. Amorim called out the club's decision-makers when he spoke to the media after facing Leeds, suggesting others should focus on their jobs.
Amorim was sacked within 24 hours of that press conference. Darren Fletcher took caretaker charge for two matches, and Michael Carrick was appointed to oversee United for the remainder of the season.
Carrick won more points than any other Premier League manager during his spell in charge, impressively guiding United to secure Champions League football for next season with three games to spare.
United appointed Amorim from Sporting Lisbon in November 2024. He oversaw the worst season at United for 51 years and suffered defeat against Tottenham in the Europa League final.
In the Premier League, Amorim had the worst win ratio (32 per cent), the worst goals conceded per game ratio (1.53) and the lowest clean sheet ratio (15 per cent) of any United manager in history.
Amorim has not addressed his time at United since he was sacked, but his potential return to management with AC Milan, along with their friendly against United, will offer journalists the chance to speak to him.
During pre-season this summer, United will play friendlies against Wrexham (Helsinki, Finland), Rosenborg (Trondheim, Norway), Atletico Madrid (Stockholm, Sweden), Paris Saint-Germain (Gothenburg, Sweden), Leeds (Dublin, Republic of Ireland) and AC Milan (Wroclaw, Poland).
United's pre-season tours around the world have been hugely commercially successful, but the club will stay in Europe this summer to protect players from clocking up thousands of air miles.
United did not travel abroad for pre-season in 2020 or 2021 due to the Covid-19 pandemic, but the Reds have played outside their own continent in every other summer since 2003. Excluding the pandemic years, the last time United spent an entire pre-season in Europe was 2002.