Pep Guardiola full of praise for incoming Manchester United coach Ruben Amorim, extends invitation to Erik Ten Hag | Football News

There may be turmoil on the other side of town, but Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola is upbeat about the future of their neighbours.
Manchester United are set to appoint Portuguese coach Ruben Amorim as their manager after sacking Dutchman Erik Ten Hag earlier this week. Amorim’s current club, the Lisbon-based Sporting Club, confirmed that the Red Devils made an approach to pay the 10 million euros release clause to get the 39-year-old out of his current contract late on Tuesday. Reports suggest he may arrive at Old Trafford soon enough to be in the dugout for their match against Chelsea in the Premier League on Sunday.
Having seen success with Sporting over a sustained period, Amorim’s stock among the European elite, especially in England, has been high. He has been linked as Guardiola’s successor at City and was heavily linked to a move to Liverpool before they signed Arne Slot this season. Last year, he even flew down to London to interview for the job at West Ham.
With City taking on Amroim’s Sporting side a few times over the past few years in the Champions League, Guardiola was full of praise for his incoming city rival. “All I can talk about is the experience of playing twice against Rúben’s Sporting Lisbon team and the (performance) was really good,” he was quoted as saying The Guardian ahead of City’s League Cup tie against Tottenham. “I spoke with Matheus Nunes, and he was his player, and he speaks highly about him. And look this season, he is unbeaten and winning all the games in the Portuguese League and the Champions League, the same points as us.”
Guardiola was also sympathetic towards the situation of Ten Hag, who, despite surviving in his job even though United finished a dismal eighth place in the Premier League last year and were knocked out of Europe at the first hurdle, felt like a dead man walking after overseeing the poorest league start in the club’s hory this year.

The Spanish manager said the doors are always open for him to come to training at City. “Always we are open. But I think he knows exactly what we do. I think it’s not going to happen, but I know his agent a little bit, so the relationship is there,” he said.