Sporting CP today hired SC Braga manager Rúben Amorim, triggering his €10 million release clause, making him the 3rd highest transfer fee paid for a manager. André Vilas-Boas to Chelsea and Brendan Rodgers to Leicester the only other managers to command a bigger fee than Amorim
This is just the latest in strange decisions coming from Sporting CP. Rúben Amorim is undoubtedly a fantastic coach and during his short tenure at SC Braga he remains unbeaten, boasting a great record particularly against Os Tres Grandes which includes 2 wins against FC Porto, 2 wins against Sporting CP and a win over SL Benfica. However the reality is too difficult to avoid, Amorim has managed just 13 senior games as Braga manager and has been there since the 4th of January.
The decision to hire him under normal circumstances would be easier to understand, a young coach starting out in the game who’s built himself a bit of a reputation in a short time, seems a smart move…but for €10 million? Not only is that €10 million, thats €10 million for a Portuguese club who’s finances are worlds apart from the money of the aforementioned Premier League clubs.
Just to put this into context, they have only paid more than €10 million for a player ONCE in their history. The below graphic, taken from TransferMarkt.Pt shows their list of record transfer fees paid. The €10 million paid for Amorim trumps even the fee paid for Bruno Fernandes.
I have no doubt Rúben Amorim will perform well with Sporting, he has shown himself to be a technically proficient coach. However, with a weak squad and a board that continually change managers (Silas managed just 28 matches, Marcel Keizer 42 matches), Amorim will need support and stability and whether he will get that at Sporting CP in its current direction, I’m not so sure.
