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It will be an emotional farewell to the Estádio José Alvalade when Rúben Amorim takes charge of his final home match as Sporting coach. He will bid farewell to the fans, but it also marks the end of a partnership that has changed the face of Portuguese football over the past four years.
Working quietly in the background in Lisbon as Amorim won two Primeira Liga titles was director of football Hugo Viana, the former Newcastle United midfielder who has been hugely successful in recent seasons in finding players and making goals. Huge profits for Sporting.
They were former teammates at Braga, both have ties to lower league Belenenses FC and are so close that their wives are business partners as interior designers. But now Amorim is heading to Manchester United for the ultimate football renovation project, while Viana is joining Manchester City this summer.
Even Amorim himself sees the oddity of facing City in the Champions League in his final home game for Sporting. After facing Braga in a domestic match, he starts at Man Utd during the international break and will look to break City’s dominance in the Premier League.
“If the result [against City] is negative, expectations will decrease; If we win, they will think that the new Alex Ferguson has arrived,” he said before facing Pep Guardiola’s team. “We are expecting a very difficult match, from the best team in the world, from the best coach in the world. It’s an exciting and difficult match and we want to be competitive and win.
Everything they touched turned to gold
Amorim’s appointment at Sporting four years ago took place under Viana’s watch, when the young coach was in his early thirties and only Casa Pia, hastily taken up coaching badges and a short stint at Braga on his CV. The two were teammates at Braga, at their famous stadium with a cliff on one side.
Viana’s first steps as a football director came at Belenenses FC, where Amorim had started as a youth player. When Viana took over at Sporting, he was part of the team that signed Amorim and everything they have touched since has turned to gold.
Among the transfers whose valuation has soared is Pedro Porro, whose deal was completed while he was on vacation. Porro showed up to his unveiling in his trademark denim beach shorts, which were the basis of memes when he debuted superbly in Portugal. Fans joked that he had attackers in the pocket of his shorts.
Porro went to Tottenham Hotspur without much change for £40m. Manuel Ugarte was removed from Famalicão and sold to Paris Saint-Germain for 60 million euros and will reunite with Amorim at United. Amorim will also face one of his former players against City in Matheus Nunes, who joined Wolverhampton Wanderers after his time at Sporting.
Their current squad includes Viktor Gyokeres, signed from Coventry City and now among the most sought-after strikers in Europe. Ousmane Diomande, 20, was brought in from Midtjylland, while Morten Hjulmand came from Italian club Lecce. “Manchester are in good hands,” said the Danish midfielder, scorer of the equalizer against England at the Euro.
The couple formed a perfect working relationship
Hjulmand was talking about United but the topic of conversation could easily have been City. Txiki Begiristain’s shoes are huge to fill as City’s director of football, but Viana has built a solid reputation for himself, having disappointed in the Premier League as a player with Newcastle.
Although he scored a free kick to secure Champions League football, and also scored in the famous comeback against Feyenoord in the European standings, he never lived up to his reputation as a of the best young players in the world upon his arrival on Tyneside.
His move to the Etihad Stadium builds on his work with Amorim over the past four years, with the pair forming a perfect working relationship. Amorim would be in the spotlight, while Viana would be content to work quietly. He does not give interviews, although Amorim was the leader of Sporting.
But Viana is known to be seen on training grounds, watching sessions and maintaining strong relationships with the staff. As a negotiator he was very effective. Sporting and Brighton replaced Nordsjaelland’s Conrad Harder in the final window and Viana flew to Denmark the day after the English deadline to complete the deal. There was still time in the Portuguese window, but Viana didn’t want any club to land him for the January window.
Before facing Sporting, Guardiola said: ‘I can’t wait to speak with him [Viana]. He is in contact with Ferran Soriano and Txiki [Begiristain] a lot and maybe in the next months or weeks we will be in contact. Hugo was the first choice, I did not intervene in this matter.
The Manchester derby is less than six weeks away and although Amorim and Viana are now on opposite sides, their families will continue to work together. Amorim’s wife, Maria João Diogo, owns Dois Tons with Viana’s wife, Raquel Gomes.
Dois Tons’ mission is to “create spaces with a unique identity” through the use of “color palettes, textures and which are an extension of their history”. Amorim and Viana have created something unique at Sporting. Before Viana’s arrival at the club, they had not won a title for 18 seasons.
They leave with two titles won together and an open invitation to stay in Lisbon. “I spoke with the president,” said Amorim, about his decision to leave for United. “Whatever you decide, you always have the option to continue. If you change your mind, you can always tell us.
After their work over the past four years, the Sporting duo could have worked together for years if Manchester had not come calling.
