oi-Prateek Bannerjee

The footballing landscape is no stranger to shock managerial appointments, but the latest viral image has sent the rumour mill into overdrive: Is Ruben Amorim lining up to replace Pep Guardiola at Manchester City?

Amorim, who is currently out of work after being sacked by Manchester United in January, has been spending his time back in his native Portugal. However, it is his choice of company that has raised eyebrows across Manchester. The 39-year-old tactician was recently photographed playing padel with none other than Hugo Viana, Manchester City’s newly appointed director of football.

Reunion of teammates

The pair, who were formerly teammates at Braga and worked highly successfully together at Sporting Lisbon, linked up for a game at Lisbon’s Padel Expo club. They were joined by club regular Goncalo Oliveira. The venue’s official Instagram page fuelled the fire by sharing the snap with a cheeky caption: “We tried to contact you to strengthen our coaching staff, but it wasn’t to be this time! Thank you very much for your visit Ruben Amorim and Hugo Viana, it was a pleasure to have you at Padel Expo.”

The timing of this reunion is impossible to ignore. Viana was recently hired by City to replace Txiki Begiristain as their next director of football, a massive role considering the dynasty Begiristain helped build alongside Pep Guardiola. With Amorim’s stock still remaining incredibly high in footballing circles despite his tough spell at Old Trafford, fans are naturally connecting the dots. Could Viana be laying the groundwork to bring his trusted ally to the blue side of Manchester when Guardiola eventually departs?

Despite the disappointing results at Manchester United, Amorim is still highly respected by his former players. Manchester United defender Harry Maguire recently went out of his way to praise the Portuguese manager’s methods and impact.

“I don’t really have much bad to say about Ruben,” Maguire revealed. “I really like Ruben, I think he’s got great ideas. The ideas just didn’t work at Manchester United. I do believe he’ll go on and have an amazing career and his next club he’ll probably go and win many, many football matches.”

Maguire further added: “It just didn’t click or work and I think us as players have got to take a lot of responsibility for that as well. But I think he has led the club in a direction – and I do think he deserves a lot of credit for that – where he’s built a good, solid squad.”

Whether it was just a casual game of padel between old friends, or the very beginning of a succession plan at the Etihad, this viral picture has certainly captured the attention of the football world.

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