Ruben Amorim's phone call with long-term Man Utd target as 'transfer being finalised'

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Not long before he was sacked by Manchester United, Ruben Amorim had a phone call with Bournemouth forward Antoine Semenyo. Amorim, 40, was dismissed from his role at Old Trafford , around 14 months after his appointment.

His sacking was announced around 24 hours after his stunning press conference, where he lashed out at the Red Devils hierarchy as well as former United captain, now pundit, Gary Neville . Before his marching orders were given, Amorim was still looking to bring some new players through the door.

One of them was Semenyo, who now looks set to finalise a move to Manchester City . But before the Ghanaian decided to link up with Pep Guardiola's side, Amorim was offering his vision of life at Old Trafford.

According to the Times , the ex-Sporting Lisbon manager was intent on bringing Semenyo to the club. So much so, he personally spoke to the classy goal-scorer over the phone.

It was believed the Cherries star was intrigued by a move to Old Trafford. However, there were purported concerns about the formation Amorim would play with Semenyo in his set-up.

According to the report, the ex-Bristol City forward was concerned he may end up competing as a wing-back for United. It was then that Amorim is believed to have told him he was a flexible manager and would not necessarily be playing a 3-4-2-1 formation in the future.

This is contrary to Amorim's previous comments in press conferences, where he vehemently defended his philosophy and use of the formation. In his final game in charge, the 1-1 draw against Leeds United , Amorim deployed the Red Devils in the formation despite having some success when tweaking it to a back four.

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Full-back Patrick Dorgu was even deployed in the front three alongside Matheus Cunha and Benjamin Sesko. After the match, Amorim stormed out of a press conference after hitting out at the United hierarchy while also insisting he was the manager of the club, despite being listed as a head coach.

When asked if he felt he had the confidence of the United board, Amorim angrily replied: "I just want to say that I'm going to be the manager of this team, not just the coach. I was really clear on that. That is going to finish in 18 months, and then everyone is going to move on.

"That was the deal. That is my job, not to be a coach. If people cannot handle the Gary Neville's and the criticises of everything, we need to change the club.

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"No, no guys, I would say that I came here to be the manager of Manchester United , not to be the coach. Every department, the scouting department, the sport director needs to do their job. I will do mine for 18 months and then we move on. Thank you, guys."

Meanwhile, it's been claimed by the Athletic that Semenyo is close to moving to City after snubbing United. That is said to have contributed to Amorim's exit after it was made clear to the Portuguese tactician that new signings in January were off the table.

Semenyo, who could be a City player in a matter of days, is expected to play his final match for the South Coast club in their upcoming clash against Tottenham Hotspur on Wednesday.

As one of the conditions of his exit, Bournemouth reportedly insisted on holding onto him until after their clashes with Chelsea , Arsenal and Tottenham, with the latter being the final match.

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