Man City laugh off suggestion Man Utd have beaten them to Ruben Amorim & insist Sporting CP boss is not right fit to replace Pep Guardiola

Amorim has emerged as the hot favourite to replace Erik ten Hag as Manchester United manager after the Dutchman was sacked in the wake of Sunday's Premier League defeat to West Ham that left the Red Devils down in 14th place in the table. The Sporting boss has also been linked with potentially taking over from Pep Guardiola at Manchester City in the future, but the Premier League champions have claimed that is not the case. GOAL understands Manchester City have laughed off the suggestion from 'giddy' fans that Manchester United have got in ahead of them to sign Amorim and feel his system would not fit their style of play. City also believe speculation about Amorim simply arose as a result of Sporting director of football Hugo Viana moving to the club as Txiki Begiristain's successor.

Amorim is seen as one of the most highly-rated young managers around after impressing with Sporting. He was also a contender to replace Jurgen Klopp at Liverpool before the Reds opted to move for Arne Slot and held talks with West Ham back in April. Yet the 39-year-old may now be finally heading to the Premier League after all as United seek a permanent successor for Ten Hag. The Red Devils will have to pay Amorim's release clause to bring him to the club but are confident a special clause in his contract means they may only have to shell out €10 million ($8.3m).

Amorim has won two league titles with Sporting since taking over in 2020. He has won 174 games of 244 games as a manager, boasting a win percentage of 71.3%.

Ruud van Nistelrooy has been appointed interim boss while Manchester United search for a permanent successor for Ten Hag and will take charge of Wednesday's Carabao Cup clash with Leicester. In the meantime United will hope to seal a deal with Amorim and start moving up the table.