Ruben Amorim is currently unemployed after being sacked by Manchester United, but has returned to Portugal and is playing padel with new Manchester City manager Hugo Viana.
Ruben Amorim and Hugo Viana were snapped playing padel together in Portugal (Image: Padel Expo)
Former Manchester United manager Ruben Amorim was snapped playing padel with new Manchester City manager Hugo Viana back in his home country.
The former team-mates attended the match at Padel Expo Club in Lisbon and posed for photos under the shining sun. Gonzalo Oliveira, a regular at the club, will also play in the pair, while Amorim will wait for his next opportunity.
The United manager sacked him in January and the 1-1 draw against Leeds was his last game. Amorim struggled to make the impact the club expected, but remained steadfast in his principles. He also openly commented on the role he wanted to play in Manchester.
Mr Amorim received a huge fee of £12 million, but has not yet returned to management. His stock remains high in some quarters, given that his success with Sporting Lisbon ultimately earned him the job at Old Trafford.
Padel Expo Club’s Instagram page shared the snap with the caption: “We tried to contact you to strengthen our coaching staff, but this time we were unsuccessful! Ruben Amorim and Hugo Viana, thank you for visiting us. It was a pleasure to have you at Padel Expo.”
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Amorim and Viana have known each other since their days as team-mates at Braga and have remained close friends even while working on opposite sides of the Manchester divide. His two wives, María João Diogo and Raquel Gomez, are also close and have started a business together.
Viana had previously worked with Amorim at Sporting, and his work caught the attention of City, who hired him as their next director of football, replacing Txiki Begiristain. Given Begiristain’s success at leading the club, he has a huge responsibility.
Ruben Amorim’s last game was at Elland Road in January (Image: Ash Donnellon, Manchester United, via Getty Images)
Amorim is still highly regarded by some senior players despite winning just 38 per cent of his matches in Manchester. Harry Maguire supported his approach even when it didn’t work out and credited him with building the team to what it is today.
“I can’t say too many bad things about Ruben,” he said recently. “I really like Ruben. I think he has great ideas, ideas that didn’t work at Manchester United. I believe he will continue to have a great career and probably go on to win a lot of football matches at his next club.”
“It didn’t work, it didn’t work and I think we as players have to take a lot of responsibility for that too. But I think he’s led the club in a certain direction and I think he deserves a lot of credit for that. He’s built a good, solid team there.”
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