Amorim denies Man City contact before joining Man Utd

Manchester United manager Ruben Amorim insists he did not speak to Manchester City about replacing Pep Guardiola at the Etihad Stadium before making his move to Old Trafford.

As Amorim prepares for his first Manchester derby on Sunday, the 39-year-old's link to City prior to his arrival at United has become a hot topic.

United hired the highly-regarded Amorim from Sporting Lisbon in November after sacking Erik ten Hag.

Amorim had been mentioned as a contender to take over from Guardiola after City announced Sporting's director of football Hugo Viana would replace Txiki Begiristain at the end of this season.

Guardiola eventually ended speculation over his future by signing a new two-year contract shortly after Amorim's arrival in Manchester.

Asked if he ever had a conversation about the prospect of joining City, Amorim told reporters: "Never. Never had and this was my only option.

"When Manchester United talked to me, I had no doubts because I had already something in my mind that it could be a possibility.

"With Manchester City or Hugo Viana? Nothing about that."

Amorim's side ended a run of two successive defeats with a 2-1 victory at Viktoria Plzen in the Europa League on Thursday.

But United have won just three of Amorim's six games in charge and are languishing in 13th place after recent losses to Arsenal and Nottingham Forest underlined the extent of the rebuilding job he faces.

Yet, for the first time in years, City go into the derby mired in more turmoil than United after a dismal run of one win in 10 games in all competitions.

'WE HAVE A LOT OF ISSUES'

Wednesday's 2-0 Champions League defeat at Juventus was City's seventh loss in their last 10 matches, an astonishing decline for a club that has won the last four Premier League titles.

One of those losses was masterminded by Amorim, whose Sporting side enjoyed a 4-1 Champions League triumph over City.

"I never think about these things," Amorim said of City's woes. "We will face a great opponent and I'm more focused on our problems, so we have a lot of issues here.

"I'm more focused on what we should do on Sunday to win the game, so I'm really focused on my team."

Asked if United are facing a different, weaker City, he said: "No, no, no, no.

"The great teams can respond in any moment, and I think they are in a better place than us in the type of understanding the game, the way they play, the confidence they have. Even in these kind of moments."

City may be struggling but they still enter the weekend fourth in the Premier League, eight points better off than their neighbours.

"I just want to improve the team, so I cannot live it like a normal derby like it should be, like two great teams fighting for the title. It is not that in this moment," Amorim said.

"Both teams are struggling in the moment, so I hope in future I can feel that real feeling of a derby, but I know it's really important for our fans.

"But my goal now is to improve the team, win games and I will try to win this game."