Manchester United have agreed a deal in principle to appoint Ruben Amorim as their new manager.

The Reds are looking to hire their first permanent manager under Ineos after Erik ten Hag's sacking on Monday. It's been an inauspicious start for United's co-owners, who now control football operations at Old Trafford.

Ineos have been heavily criticised in some quarters after sticking with Ten Hag following last season's eight placed finish - United's worst in the top flight since 1990. But could they now be making a brave move which offers hope that the mood music will change at Old Trafford?

Amorim would be a risk, make no mistake about it. The 39-year-old has never managed outside of Portugal, a domestic league below the Premier League, La Liga and Bundesliga in terms of quality.

But his work at Sporting will offer fans hope that he could do something that hasn't been done by a manager since Sir Alex Ferguson. Amorim's greatest achievement was ending Sporting's 19-year league title drought in 2021.

It was a historic success from a young manager who guided the club to 85 points and with just one defeat all season. It banished a near - two-decade long hoodoo which resulted in another league title three years later.

Whilst repeating the same success at United will be a far greater challenge, ending a long wait for league title success at Sporting will no doubt appeal to the club's chiefs that he can repeat the same trick in Manchester.

It's something which United's greatest-ever manager famously did to an even bigger extent. Ferguson arrived from Aberdeen and after several years of frustration, ended a 26-year wait for a top-flight title in the inaugural Premier League season of 1992/93.

United chief executive Omar Berrada is already planning for United's current drought of 11 years and counting to not extend beyond 2027. Berrada is said to have told staff at the club in September that they want to win the Premier League in 2028 in a three-year plan that would coincide with the Reds' 150th anniversary.

That is already looking like an ambitious target, with United currently in 14th amid their worst-ever start to a Premier League campaign. But things can change quickly in football, and if Amorim is the chosen replacement for Ten Hag, the hope will be that he can offer the revolution Old Trafford so badly needs.