Ruben Amorim has said he never had any conversations with Manchester City prior to his appointment as Manchester United manager.
Amorim was named as a potential successor to Pep Guardiola earlier this year, before the latter’s decision to sign a new contract at the Etihad.
Sporting director Hugo Viana’s impending move to City from Sporting Lisbon increased the speculation, following the success of Amorim’s working relationship with his compatriot in Portugal.
The 39-year-old was instead named as Erik ten Hag’s replacement at Manchester United, beginning his reign last month. Amorim will experience his first Manchester Derby this weekend, when United travel to face City at the Etihad.
Ahead of the clash, he denied holding any conversations with City: “Never, I never had [conversations]. This was my only option,” he said at his pre-match press conference.
“When Manchester United talked to me, I have no doubts because I had already something in my mind that it could be a possibility. And with Manchester City or Hugo Viana, nothing about that,” he said.
Both teams head into the derby in poor form, with City having won just one of their last 10 games across all competitions. However, Amorim said his only focus is on improving the problems in his own side.
“No, I never think about these things. We will face a great opponent and I’m more focused on our problems.
“So we have a lot of issues here, so I’m more focused on what we should do on Sunday to win the game. So I’m really focused on my team.”
