SPORTING LISBON have confirmed receiving an approach from Manchester United for head coach Ruben Amorim, and said the Premier League club are willing to pay the £8.3 million termination clause in his contract.

United have quickly settled on the 39-year-old as their number one choice to replace Erik ten Hag, who was sacked on Monday after Sunday’s 2-1 defeat at West Ham left his side 14th in the league.

In a statement to Portugal’s financial regulator, the CMVM, today, Sporting gave notice to investors of the approach from United and signalled an expectation that a deal is likely to be completed.