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Premier League club West Ham could be in line to make a shock move to sign rising star manager Ruben Amorim according to a new report.
Amorim, who currently manages Portuguese side Sporting Club de Portugal, is one of the hottest young manager prospects on the market.
But previous reports linked him to Premier League giants Liverpool, particularly after Liverpool’s presumed first choice, Xabi Alonso, announced his intent to remain in Germany with Bundesliga champion Bayer Leverkusen.
Now it appears that may not be the case.
🚨 EXCL: West Ham in talks over ambitious move for Ruben Amorim if David Moyes goes. Julen Lopetegui also assessed but Amorim current top target. #WHUFC said to appeal but unclear where they sit among 39yo’s options. Liverpool looks unlikely @TheAthleticFC https://t.co/0WKBW7ey3R
— David Ornstein (@David_Ornstein) April 22, 2024
“West Ham United have held talks over an ambitious move to appoint Ruben Amorim as manager if David Moyes leaves the club,” David Ornstein of The Athletic reports.
Moyes helped take West Ham from a prohibitive bottom feeder to UEFA Conference League champions and a top-half Premier League Club.
But he’s out of contract in the summer and the feeling around the club is that he’s reached his peak.
Now it seems the Hammers have more ambitious targets.
West Ham Target Ruben Amorim Is One Of Europe’s Best Young Managers
Amorim, 39, is the talk of the town in the manager world.
He took over at Sporting in the back half of the 2019-20 season and led the club to its first Liga Portuguesa title in 19 years the next season.
He and Sporting won consecutive league cups in 2021 and 2022 and have become the predominant Portuguese club in Europe.
West Ham sits in eighth place in the Premier League with four games remaining. But both Chelsea (9th) and Brighton (10th) hold games in hand.
Sporting, meanwhile, league Benfica by 10 points in the Portuguese League with just four games remaining. Sporting and Amorin also reached the Portuguese League Cup final yet again.
That match is scheduled for May 26 against rival FC Porto. Though who knows if Amorim will still be around by then.