Amorim first tried a back three early in his coaching career and he quickly settled upon a preferred 3-4-2-1 shape. At Sporting the system could flex into a 3-4-3 with two wide forwards rather than typical No 10s, and occasionally he played with a 3-5-2, but Amorim rarely deviated from his three-at-the-back foundation.

When Sporting built from deep, two adventurous wing-backs hugged the touchlines to stretch the pitch, leaving space for confident centre-backs to either carry the ball upfield or play passes into midfield. At United, Lisandro Martinez could slot into the left side of a three-man defence while Matthijs de Ligt would likely be the central pin.

Amorim inherited a squad which had been ravaged by the sales of key players, with Bruno Fernandes’s move to Manchester United being the most high profile. That money was barely reinvested in the transfer market, meaning Amorim had little choice but to build a team around emerging homegrown talents such as Eduardo Quaresma, Matheus Nunes and Nuno Mendes.

He did so brilliantly, and the young stars of his first title-winning campaign have gone on to play for some of the biggest clubs in Europe. Matheus Nunes moved to Manchester City for £40m; Nuno Mendes went to PSG for £35m; Manuel Ugarte joined PSG for £50m, before moving to Old Trafford where he will be reunited with his former manager; Pedro Porro was bought by Tottenham for £30m.

Ruud van Nistelrooy said he had consulted with Sir Alex Ferguson before his first game in charge of Manchester United and revealed Erik ten Hag left Old Trafford hurt to be sacked but proud of his achievements.

The Dutchman won his first match as interim manager, 5-2 against Leicester in the Carabao Cup on Wednesday, and expects to remain the caretaker for Sunday’s match against Chelsea, even as United close in on Ruben Amorim.

Van Nistelrooy has not yet been in contact with the Sporting Lisbon manager but underlined that it is his “absolute goal” to stay at United.

Ruud van Nistelrooy was asked whether he would discuss the next few matches with Ruben Amorim or whether he would select the teams himself.

He replied:“Is he [Amorim] already announced? So we don’t know. Again, what the future will bring, we will see.”

Ruud van Nistelrooy on if he expects to stay as assistant: “We will see but it is the contract situation I am in and my desire to help the club forward.

“I can speak to you about my side of the story and after, when the new manager is signing and conversations take place, we have to see how things develop.”

Rubem Amorim’s Manchester United could look immediately very different to Erik ten Hag’s.

Since last season, Sporting have the fourth-highest defensive line from the major leagues in Europe with 45.20m, with Man City top with 46.70m.

Arsenal sit sixth on 44.70m away from goal and Liverpool are 10th on 44.20m.

The Red Devils, under Ten Hag in that time, sit 41.70m away from goal.

“Yes I saw him Monday here and spoke to him before the game, he is very disappointed and touched. He cared for the club, the first conversations we had, I felt he cared and loved the club and wanted to bring the club forward. That is where we connected. He is also proud of his achievements here.

“In the end, it is also clear in football that is the results and Erik also said, in pre-season we had new staff and all were very positive and all working hard to bring the club forward.

“There are things you can’t explain sometimes. I also remember the Brighton goal we scored and then you concede the 2-1, so many games we felt we could get a better result, talking Palace, West Ham, Porto, Fenerbahce but we also know it is about results and that is part of our job.”

“I decided to come back here for a very important reasons, that I am here as an assistant, I came here to help the club forward and I am still very motivated to do so in any capacity, as an assistant and now an interim and after that I go back to my assistant contract that I have for this season and next. I am very motivated to stay here and help the club forward. That’s my goal.

“I can speak about my side of the story and when a new manager is signing and conversations take place we have to see how things develop.

“I want to do everything I can with my abilities to help this club.”

Manchester United interim manager Ruud van Nistelrooy spoke about whether he will be in charge of the club on Sunday.

He said: “I am guessing that too, as I said I was told it is going to be a short job as an interim, I was happy with that, I felt that I was called upon to help the club in the situation and obviously it was difficult, Erik had to leave, with mixed feelings but you have to switch the mindset to win, at the end 75,000 people waiting and millions watching at home.

“That is what we try to do and same on Sunday.”

What did Ruben Amorim say about Manchester United?

“It’s a negotiation between two clubs. It’s never easy, even with the [release] clauses. They have to talk. We will have clarification after the game, it will be very clear. So it’s one more day and after the game tomorrow, we will have a decision made. We’ll leave that until the end of the game [when] I’ll talk about all these issues. Right now I want the team to focus and me too.

“I promise I’ll talk about it at the end of the game and everything will be clearer. By talking now, it’s destabilising the squad further. Right now, the focus is on Estrela da Amadora. As for doing things differently, I wouldn’t. I didn’t control any of the situation.”