Ruben Amorim sends message to Sporting Lisbon successor after leaving for Man Utd

Sporting Lisbon have embarked on their own new era after waving a sad farewell to successful boss Ruben Amorim after his appointment by Manchester United and replacing him with Joao Pereira

Ruben Amorim has sent his successor Joao Pereira a good luck message ahead of Sporting Lisbon’s showdown with Arsenal.

Sporting’s new boss Pereira revealed he called Amorim ahead of his first game in charge of Manchester United and the conversation turned into a love-in. Pereira said: “I spoke with Ruben before his debut game with Manchester United and he wished me good luck. He wished me to have a good career as a coach.

“I answered: ‘If I can do a lot of the things that you have done here, then it’s not a bad start.’ He was always open and he always opened the door for us to watch him.

“It is a big challenge but I put pressure on myself every day and I challenge myself in every training session and in every match.”

United boss Amorim has left big shoes to fill in Lisbon as he led Sporting to great success and set high standards in the Champions League, not least by thumping Manchester City 4-1 in their last European clash against English opposition. Pereira is a former Sporting and Portugal full back - he won 40 caps - and is highly regarded at the club after previously being in charge of the reserve team.

It is a big step up but his first game in charge was a 6-0 thrashing of Amarante in the Portuguese Cup. However, Pereira expects a different test against Arsenal and insists he will not be overawed. Pereira added: “I’m very comfortable to sit here, it’s a great pleasure to do the job and we also know that Arsenal are on a different level with all due respect to Amarante.

“The greatest difficulty is the little time we have to prepare and practice but the positive in sport comes in terms of being in all the major competitions. The players are used to our style and the way we want to play.

"Even before the Manchester City game, the players were aware of our targets and to reach the knock-out stages. We have given ourselves a big chance to do that.” Pereira also insisted that he wants Sporting’s much-coveted striker Viktor Gyökeres to have a good game against Arsenal even though the Gunners are one of the clubs chasing his signature.

Pereira said: “Well, I just hope Viktor has another good game and shows what he can do.”

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