Manchester United’s new manager Ruben Amorim takes charge of his first game on Sunday when he leads his side to Ipswich Town in the Premier League.

The 39-year-old Portuguese coach and former player was announced as Erik ten Hag’s replacement at the helm of the fallen giants this month.

Al Jazeera takes a look at five things you need to know about Amorim before his debut:

1. The new ‘Special One’?

The latest Portuguese managing sensation to be dubbed “the new Mourinho” – after former Chelsea, Real Madrid and Manchester United manager Jose Mourinho – Amorim arrives with quite the reputation as a coach even in his fledgling career. 

Amorim established himself as one of the most sought-after young coaches in world football at Sporting Lisbon, but his challenge in Manchester is of a different magnitude.

The coach, who won two league titles at Sporting, follows the path from Portugal to the Premier League taken a generation ago by Mourinho, then the shining young managerial star, who swapped Porto for Chelsea while naming himself the “Special One”. Amorim will, however, be expected to do something that even Mourinho did not manage during his subsequent stint at United – win the club’s first Premier League title since the trophy-filled days of Alex Ferguson ended in 2013.

Amorim has described Mourinho as a role model. He spent a short internship with his compatriot when Mourinho was managing United from 2016 to 2018. He arrives at Old Trafford two years younger than Mourinho was when he took over a Chelsea side that won two Premier League titles in his first two seasons at the helm.

Other coaches have come from Portugal with big reputations, but not all have succeeded. Andre Villas-Boas failed to live up to expectations after swapping Porto for Chelsea in 2011. He too was burdened with the same nickname as Mourinho gave himself.

But everything about Amorim, who was also linked to the manager’s job at Liverpool this year, suggests he could be something special.

Ruben Amorim, left, led Sporting Lisbon against Jose Mourinho’s Roma in a preseason friendly in 2022 [Carlos Rodrigues/Getty Images]

2. The Amorim effect as a manager

Amorim started his managerial career in 2018 with a short stint at the Lisbon club Casa Pia, then in the Portuguese third tier. He was appointed reserve team manager at Braga the following year and just three months later was promoted to first team boss.

Eye-catching success at the top-flight club, including a shock League Cup final win over Porto, was enough to convince Sporting to pay his release clause in 2020, and he delivered immediately, leading the Lisbon club to their first Primeira Liga title in 19 years in his first full season with the loss of just one game. He also won the League Cup, defeating his former club Braga in the final.

The club reached the Champions League last 16 the following season and the Europa League quarterfinals in the 2022-2023 campaign. He won a second Portuguese title last season to further burnish his reputation.

He leaves Sporting sitting top of the league and second in the Champions League after thumping Manchester City 4-1 in Amorim’s last home game as coach.

A dramatic fightback from two goals down, reminiscent of the United of old, was staged in his final Primeira Liga match as a 4-2 win was secured at Braga – maintaining Sporting’s 100 percent record for the season.

Manchester City coach Pep Guardiola, right, congratulates Ruben Amorim of Sporting after the Champions League match on November 5, 2024 [Eric Verhoeven/Getty Images]

3. Amorim’s journey as a player

Born in Lisbon, Amorim was a hard-working midfielder who spent the bulk of his playing career at Benfica, where he won a domestic treble in 2013-2014.

He won 14 caps for Portugal, appearing at two World Cups, but ended his playing days at the age of 32 after a loan spell in Qatar with Al-Wakrah.

He also enjoyed a loan spell with Braga during his formative years at Benfica, who he joined in 2009 and would go on to win three league titles with.

The pinnacle of his playing career, having been a Portuguese youth international at all age levels from under-18s in 2003, was undoubtedly his appearances at the World Cups in South Africa in 2010 and 2014.

Although mostly a squad player for his international career, which spanned more than five years, Amorim gained crucial experience as part of the set-up – and lined up alongside Cristiano Ronaldo throughout his own Portugal days. But more on that in a moment.

Ruben Amorim, sixth from left, lines up with Cristiano Ronaldo, right, at the 2014 World Cup [Marius Becker/picture alliance via Getty Images]

4. Amorim will do it his way – starting with three at the back

The Portuguese coach must hit the ground running with United struggling in the English top flight after just three wins in their opening nine games this season and sitting 14th in the table.

United spent about 757 million pounds ($955m) on new players for ten Hag, who led them to one FA Cup and one League Cup. These are luxuries that Amorim will not enjoy in the short term as January’s transfer window will come too soon for the new manager to seal any sizeable signings. Few happen midseason anyway.

Instead, it will be Amorim’s approach on the field that will be of most interest. There is little secret that he prefers a three-man defence with two wingbacks, two central midfielders and then two forwards supporting the striker.

United’s current squad makeup does not lean towards these positions, particularly in attack, where wingers have been the order of the day for United since the days of George Best through to Ronaldo.

One player that may enjoy a revival under Amorim, though, is his former teammate at Benfica, Victor Lindelof. (The pair also played alongside former United midfielder Nemanja Matic in that time.) The Swedish defender has failed to nail down a starting position in his time at Old Trafford but favours playing as part of a back three.

Whether this will be the approach from the off at Portman Road on Sunday remains to be seen – as does how the likes of crowd favourites on the flanks, including Marcus Rashford, Alejandro Garnacho and Amad Diallo, will fit into the new manager’s style.

Whatever happens, a huge challenge lies in wait at a club that has underperformed under multiple managers, but if Amorim succeeds, he will lift himself onto a different plane – and he will undoubtedly have done it his way.

An image of new Manchester United manager Ruben Amorim is seen on the cover of a fan magazine outside Old Trafford [Jason Cairnduff/Action Images via Reuters]

5. Amorim is only one week older than United legend Cristiano Ronaldo

One of the greatest challenges, as everyone agrees, is that Amorim must learn on the job.

Born on January 27, 1985, the United manager is only a week older than Ronaldo, who is still going strong as a player for club and country.

Indeed, Amorim is only two years (and three weeks) older than Jonny Evans, who has been playing a pivotal role in central defence since his return to United last season. It will be his senior players that Amorim will rely on most heavily and in particular his three 30-plus central midfielders: Christian Eriksen, Casemiro and Bruno Fernandes.

It was Amorim’s own position on the park, and it is there that his fellow countryman and club captain Fernandes has been United’s shining light in recent years. The mercurial midfielder is still joined in the Portugal starting lineup by Ronaldo, who has called for a bottom-up rebuild of his former club.

It may be with the hands of Ronaldo’s fellow Portuguese pairing that the foundations of recovery are laid.

Portugal’s Ruben Amorim, left, and Cristiano Ronaldo, centre, help Helder Postiga celebrate his goal against Azerbaijan during their 2014 World Cup qualifying match [Miguel Vidal/Reuters]