Man Utd's six-man managerial shortlist before they hired Ruben Amorim revealed - The Mirror

Manchester United considered a raft of names before hiring Ruben Amorim with six men including Thomas Tuchel and Graham Potter on their radar before Erik ten Hag's sacking

Manchester United considered six men as their next manager - Thomas Tuchel and Graham Potter among them - before eventually changing their approach and landing on Ruben Amorim as their next manager following the sacking of Erik ten Hag almost a year ago.

The Dutchman was dismissed after a dire start to the season and United move to land the Portuguese coach, then at Sporting Lisbon, but he hadn't been on their radar months earlier.

After United won the FA Cup in 2024 they begun sounding out potential new managers with Ten Hag under pressure despite his Wembley success. Tuchel was a man without a job having left Bayern Munich and met club chiefs in Monaco, but was keen for a break.

Potter had just come off a miserable spell at Chelsea, leading to questions over his credentials at the top level, yet he remained a possible appointment. Roberto de Zerbi, Mauricio Pochettino, Thomas Frank and Marco Silva were also on the shortlist, according to The Athletic.

Director of football Jason Wilcox did speak to Amorim, and was impressed, but felt going from Sporting to a United side needing a rebuild would be too challenging.

It is understood that a proposal was made to De Zerbi, who had just left Brighton, but he turned down their approach for financial reasons and shortly after took the gig at Marseille. Frank and Silva had both seen their stocks rise whilst operating in west London with Brentford and Fulham respectively.

Neither man chose to make the jump. Frank has since left the Bees to become Tottenham boss but Silva remains at Fulham. Thiago Motta, who had impressed at Bologna and would join Juventus, was seen as another rising talent alongside Amorim, but no move was made.

When push came to shove and United opted to axe Ten Hag, leaving the club in 14th after three wins from nine league games, they did turn to Amorim. He had continued to impress at Sporting and his record of two league titles, three domestic cups and a win percentage of 71 percent was too tempting.

United met him for a five-hour meeting in Seville on October 18, where he laid out his vision, and were impressed with what he had to offer. Amorim expressed hesitancy multiple times about taking over the job in mid-season but it was made clear to him that it was now or never and he made the jump.

The club's leading lights have repeatedly stuck by the decision to appoint the Portuguese boss, despite his dismissal record since taking charge. Sir Jim Ratcliffe recently claimed he needed three years to prove he was a top coach.

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