Earlier this morning, there were strong reports all over Europe that Rubem Amorim had agreed a deal to join Liverpool.
Florian Plettenberg, the German transfer insider, jumped on the chance to be the first to call the race as over. He claimed there was a “verbal agreement” in place between the coach and the Reds, meaning that there now just remained to be found a fee for Sporting Club de Portugal to let their manager go.
He named Chelsea as having “inquired” about the coach, but it seems like without the conviction needed to secure him.
But at the day has worn on, more sources are pushing against the idea that this is a done deal. Everyone agrees it’s very close, but it seems that Plettenberg is jumping the gun to some degree.
The view from the continent
Sport Witness point out that sources in Portugal, notably football daily paper Record, are not going nearly as far. Their well sources story said that:
“Contrary to what has been reported on social media, Record found, there are no ongoing negotiations with a view to a possible transfer or contract, just as it is false that there is an alleged verbal agreement that allows the coach to leave for €10m. Amorim’s termination clause is €30m for Portugal and drops to €20m abroad.”
The paper also reinforced our “very concrete” interest in the coach, and our good relations with Sporting.
The direction of travel still seems to be very obviously towards Amorim joining Liverpool – and Chelsea have the disadvantage of already having a manager in place, making conducting any serious inquiries significantly harder. But if things fall through in the Liverpool deal, it does sound like we’re a very interested party waiting in the wings to see what happens with our own coach as much as with any potential Sporting deal.
