Ruben Amorim, who Liverpool shortlisted and then rejected in favour of Arne Slot has emerged as the frontrunner to replace the recently sacked Erik ten Hag at Manchester United.

Ten Hag received his firing following United's surprise 2-1 defeat against West Ham, with the hierarchy at Old Trafford patently unimpressed following an even poorer start to the season than expected, with the Red Devils languishing in 14th domestically and having failed to win yet in the Europa League.

Having opted against replacing ten Hag in the summer, United instead chose to extend his contract on the back of their underdog win against Manchester City in the FA Cup final, only to now choose to sack the Dutchman and face paying him a reported PS13.5m in compensation.

It has now been revealed that one of several managers that Liverpool considered before the hiring of Arne Slot is seen as favourite to take up position in the dugout at Old Trafford.

According to a report in The Athletic by David Ornstein, Sporting Lisbon manager Amorim is believed to be in contact with officials at United and open to accepting the move to United.

Why Liverpool really rejected Ruben Amorim The 39-year-old is one of Europe's top young managers, and although he allegedly has a EUR10m release clause in his contract the report claims United would be ready to pay it.

Amorim was heavily linked with Liverpool after the announcement of Jurgen Klopp's departure, and even more so after it became clear that Xabi Alonso was to remain at Bayer Leverkusen.

Many outlets even saw it as being a straight race between himself and Slot for the head coach position, with Slot obviously winning out in the end.

Reticence over Amorim's favouring of a back three was believed to be part of Liverpool's reason to hire Slot instead, and following the rejection by the Reds Amorim took part in talks with West Ham to replace David Moyes.

According reliable reporter Neil Jones speaking to Caught Offside, Amorim's discussions with Liverpool were never seriously advanced with the club always preferring Slot throughout the process.

"Ruben Amorim was strongly linked, and is understood to have shown up well during the due diligence process," Jones said.

"But sources always insisted that the suggestion that he was a 'preferred' candidate was incorrect, and as I believe it, discussions never reached an advanced stage."

"The same can be said for any number of other candidates - Roberto De Zerbi, Gary O'Neil, Unai Emery."

"Slot's appeal is that he has achieved success at two different clubs, both of whom have punched above their weight with him as manager."

"He has not had huge sums to spend, or players on huge wages, and he has been able to stamp his authority on the team in terms of a clearly-defined style of play, as well as impressive communication skills."