Manchester United signed Ruben Amorim on Friday, betting on a coach who has yet to prove himself in Europe’s top leagues to turn around the fortunes of the fading English power.

At 39, Amorim, who joined from Portuguese champions Sporting Lisbon, will be United’s youngest manager since the 1960s and the sixth permanent manager since Alex Ferguson stepped down in 2013.

Amorim will take over on November 11 after fulfilling his obligations at Sporting and has signed a contract until June 2027, with United having an option for a further year.

“Ruben is one of the most exciting and highly rated young coaches in European football,” United said.

United, the record 20-time English champions, have not won the Premier League since Ferguson’s last season. Amorim’s job will be to revive the glory of a club that has fallen far behind the best in England and Europe – something that goes beyond the likes of Louis van Gaal, Jose Mourinho and most recently Erik ten Hag, who was sacked on Monday.

United currently sit 14th in the 20-team Premier League after losing four of their first nine games.

Amorim, a former Portuguese midfielder who spent most of his club career at Benfica, moves after United paid 10 million euros ($10.8 million) to release him from his four-year contract at Sporting Seasons as coach led to two Portuguese titles.

He has only worked in Portugal and has no experience managing some of the game’s best players under the constant scrutiny of the world media.

“He comes from a big club in Portugal,” United defender Diogo Dalot told British broadcaster Sky Sports, “but I always say it almost quadruples the intensity and pressure (at United).”

Amorim ended Sporting’s 19-year title drought in the Portuguese league in 2021, ending the dominance of rivals Benfica and Porto. That year he also won the League Cup in his first season as coach.

Sporting also won the league last season and have won all nine league games this season, underlining Amorim’s status as an up-and-coming coaching talent. In his only other role in the top flight, with Braga, he won the League Cup in less than a season.

Amorim will end his time at Sporting with a game against Estrela da Amadora on Friday, a home game against Manchester City in the Champions League on Tuesday and a trip to Braga on November 10.

Meanwhile, Ruud van Nistelrooy remains in control of United for the time being, taking charge of three games, all at home, before the international break: against Chelsea and Leicester in the Premier League and a Europa League game against PAOK.

Amorim’s first game with United is in Ipswich on November 24th.

He reportedly held talks with West Ham last season before the London outfit hired Julen Lopetegui and was also linked with replacing Jurgen Klopp at Liverpool before Arne Slot was appointed.

Now he takes the reins at one of the world’s most storied clubs, which has been in decline over the last decade and is going through a period of change following the arrival of a new football-focused management team led by British billionaire Jim Ratcliffe.

Ratcliffe hopes he has signed the latest coaching gem, with Amorim the youngest United manager since 31-year-old Wilf McGuinness took over in 1969.

Following the appointment of Ten Hag, who came from the Dutch league, United are continuing their move away from hiring high-profile coaches such as Van Gaal and Mourinho.

The Premier League now has four managers in their 30s, with Amorim joining Brighton’s Fabian Hurzeler (31), Ipswich’s Kieran McKenna (38) and Southampton’s Russell Martin (38).

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