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The 'next Jose Mourinho' with a wife who gave up engineering to follow his dream

  /  autty

It has been a dramatic 24 hours at Manchester United, with the Red Devils closing in on appointing a new manager after sacking Erik ten Hag on Monday morning.

Ten Hag was relieved of his duties following a disastrous start to the season that saw United lose four of their opening nine league games while also failing to register a win in Europe.

United have moved quickly to find his successor, with Sporting Lisbon boss Ruben Amorim, 39, reportedly agreeing to take over in a move that will double his salary to £5m-a-year.

But what do we know about the man edging nearer to the Old Trafford hotseat?

Switching Lisbon for Manchester promises to be a big move for Amorim, but he can count on having the full support of his wife, Maria Joao Diogo.

Amorim and Maria married in 2013, and their relationship was put to the test early on when he opted to leave the club he supported as a boy, Benfica, to join Qatari side Al-Wakrah two years later.

Maria had forged her own successful career while Amorim was carving out his path in football, achieving a degree in telecommunications engineering before setting up her own interior design business, Dois Tons.

She decided to temporarily leave her career behind to join Amorim in the Middle East, and he has spoken fondly of their time together in Qatar, but conceded it was far from plain sailing for the couple.

'I had never played abroad, I had travelled abroad, but I hadn't played,' he explained.

'Qatar, to live in, for the family, is a spectacular country. People have no idea of the quality of life you have in Qatar. It is very family-oriented... If I had to choose to live with my family, I would go to Qatar.

'My wife came to see me, I went ahead to take care of things. She asked me what kind of clothes I could take, where we could live, if it was traditional or not. I told her to take a certain type of clothing and she came there and said to me: "Ruben, I didn't bring clothes to wear here." For now, it was very hot and I told you to be more covered up. When we started investigating, it seemed like they opened the doors.

'There were certain things that confused me: things were not certain, it was always tomorrow. I spent six months in a hotel room with my wife. [When it was time to go to a house] , they were always saying 'Insha'Allah tomorrow' ['Tomorrow, God willing'].'

Amorim's stay in Qatar was short-lived, as he returned to Portugal in 2016 before hanging up his boots.

From there, his coaching career began, and it could be argued that his move to United has been six years in the making.

Back in 2018, Amorim completed a performance internship under Jose Mourinho at United as he got an early taste for life in Manchester.

The pair posed for a photo together at Carrington, and Amorim has made no secret of his admiration for his fellow countryman.

When asked in 2021 about the influence Mourinho has had on his career, Amorim told reporters: 'My reference has always been Jose Mourinho'.

They share similar philosophies, with Amorim revealing his mentality earlier this year when he said: 'I identify more with the other side, more thinking about how I am going to beat the opponent and how I am going to try to make sure they do not score goals.'

Mourinho has always been a serial winner, even triumphing in the EFL Cup and Europa League during a difficult two-year spell at United between 2016 and 2018.

Amorim has followed his lead, guiding Sporting to two league titles in the last three years after they had previously gone almost two decades without winning their domestic league.

But he is not just a football-mad manager. In fact, before embarking on a professional football career, Amorim started out as an ice hockey player.

He enjoyed skating as a youngster and practised the sport in Alverca do Ribatejo, a region to the north of Portugal's capital, Lisbon.

More than 20 years have passed since then, and Amorim has now turned his hand to another sport - kickboxing - to help take his mind away from the stresses of football.

Videos and images have been posted online of him in the gym on the punchbag as he looks to improve his craft, although he has admitted he is by no means the finished article.

Reflecting on his love for kickboxing, Amorim said: 'It’s a hobby. I’m not very good at it but I occupy my time as I like.

'I hate running, I think I’ve run a lot during my career. I find other moments to relieve the pressure.'

Yet football is his main priority, and he has shown he is not afraid to take on new challenges in the past.

Amorim has managed three clubs to date - Casa Pia, Braga and Sporting - but has never coached outside of his homeland.

That could be all about to change if he takes the United job, but Amorim's wife has made a big sacrifice to move to another country before, and could do so again to help him settle into life in Manchester.

There is no guarantee that Amorim will be able to turn things around at Old Trafford, but he appears to have the ideal work-life balance and support network in place to give him the best chance to succeed in the toughest job in football.