Ruben Amorim jokes he will be likened to an ex-Man United manager if he beats Pep Guardiola’s Man City in the Champions League – and reveals his ‘basic’ plan to get through to under-performing stars at Old Trafford

Ruben Amorim joked that he will be dubbed ‘the new Alex Ferguson’ if he can further endear himself to Manchester United fans by beating rivals Manchester City in the Champions League this week.

As part of Amorim’s farewell tour with Sporting, he will face Pep Guardiola and Co. in Lisbon on Tuesday evening.

Amorim, who leaves for Manchester on November 11 to take up the job as Man United’s new head coach, accepted that many eyes are on how his side fares against Guardiola, with whom he will renew the rivalry in England in six weeks .

‘The focus is on winning the match for Sporting. After that, the conclusions people draw from this match are not important to me because they can be misleading,” he said.

‘If the result is negative, expectations drop; if we win, they’ll think the new Alex Ferguson has arrived!

‘What interests me is winning, a good farewell in Alvalade, winning in Braga and starting a new adventure in Manchester. What I want is to leave the fans and my players excited for what’s to come in the new season.”

For the second successive press conference, Amorim did not answer a single question in English, with Sporting’s press officer insisting the manager will have plenty of time to do so when he leaves for United on November 11.

However, Amorim has revealed that he conducts his Sporting training in English and is prepared to simplify his instructions to hit the ground running when he arrives at Old Trafford.

“My communication will be easier at first because it will be in English,” he explained.

‘I think I have to spend three months… that’s enough, they say. The players won’t be offended if I say that [instructions] are more fundamental. I provide training here in English.’

He continued, “It will be a different adjustment, but my life will be the same. There is a way of playing, an idea. Communication will be more fundamental.”

One of the questions asked by a Portuguese reporter to Amorim was that he had previously gone to London to speak to West Ham, a decision he would apologize for when he returned to Lisbon and continued to manage Sporting.

It was put to Amorim that that earlier visit underlined his desire to eventually leave Portugal for England.

“I went to England, I wasn’t going to negotiate,” he explained.

‘I went to meet the owner. I had made my decision. I stayed because I talked to the president and he convinced me to stay another year.

‘If you think I wanted to leave last year, there’s nothing I can do about it.

‘I have accepted this invitation [from Manchester United] and I’ve already explained why. Now it’s time to think about tomorrow’s match, then we’ll have time to talk about it.’