Ruben Amorim has furiously hit out at speculation linking him with a move away from Sporting at the end of the season. The Portuguese boss has been shortlisted as one of the leading candidates to become Liverpool's manager this summer, following their failed pursuit of Xabi Alonso.
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Jurgen Klopp announced in January that he was set to leave the Reds at the end of the season as he is ‘running out of energy’ in the position and felt that it was his responsibility to step down when the time was right.
The shock announcement sparked the Anfield outfit into life in the managerial market, with several options being explored. Alonso, Roberto De Zerbi and Simone Inzaghi are among those to have been linked with a move to Merseyside as a result, though Amorim has now emerged as the favourite for the position.
However, the 39-year-old has hit out at reports tipping him to leave Sporting and claims that he will be replaced by Bayern Munich assistant manager Anthony Barry, formerly of Chelsea. Asked about how important it is for him to ignore the reports which are circulating, he said: “Completely, the only thing that annoys me is that they already had a replacement for me.
"That's what got me the most upset, even today I told Viana (Hugo Viana, Sporting director of football) to calm down because it's not like that. That's the only thing I've paid attention to."
Amorim was then asked whether he felt that his Sporting side, who are currently top of the Liga Portugal, were being affected by suggestions that he is set to leave, to which he replied: “No, because it's part of their lives. What affects the players is their own future.
"Everyone is thinking about themselves. That can interfere with the preparation of a game if they're involved in talks with other clubs. It's normal for players to go through that. When it's the manager, they don't think about any of that. And the manager is clearly Sporting's manager, Sporting's manager and only Sporting's manager.
"And they know how much they want to win and I want to win titles for Sporting. So the work was the same, the preparation was the same and they're clear that everyone is focused on winning titles." It remains to be seen whether Liverpool attempt to make their move to poach Amorim before the end of the season, with Bayern Munich also monitoring his situation closely and set to be in the market for a manager this summer.
