Ruben Amorim: How he prepared for Liverpool move years ago

Ruben Amorim appears to have prepared for a move to Liverpool years ago. The Sporting CP boss is the favourite to take over this summer.

It seems Ruben Amorim has had his eyes on the Liverpool job for some time. Or at least, he’s hoped it would come along at some point.

Amorim is currently at Sporting CP, of course, but it heavily linked with a move to Anfield. Jurgen Klopp’s departure has opened the door to it - now everyone expects the Portuguese boss to step through.

And Liverpool find themselves with a small advantage in their pursuit. Amorim has a release clause in his contract, as Diario de Noticias points out.

That clause sits around £28m for Portuguese clubs and £18m for foreign clubs. But there’s also a ‘verbal’ clause that’s not actually in the contract.

Amorim has apparently got his own shortlist of clubs he wishes to manage one day and has had a verbal agreement with Sporting president Federico Varandas to leave for around £8m if one of them comes calling.

Liverpool are on that list and thanks to Klopp deciding to call it a day, they’re set to come calling this year. If they do, they can supposedly snap Amorim up on the cheap.

Ruben Amorim wants Liverpool job

So the suggestion here is that Amorim has wanted the Liverpool job - along with other major European jobs - for years. None of them have sought him out just yet but it appears that’s about to change.

He’s prepared for this moment and it’s a pretty fantastic sign that he’s going to say yes if Liverpool put an offer forward. Every suggestion is that they’re going to do so, even if they have to wait a bit longer.

But it’s important to note that Xabi Alonso also reportedly had a verbal agreement like this with Bayer Leverkusen. He opted not to jump when Liverpool and Bayern Munich came calling, however.

Will Amorim make the same decision?