Ruben Amorim was so disappointed when West Ham’s ‘great player’ made a £15m transfer

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West Ham United’s trip to Old Trafford on Thursday, facing Ruben Amorim’s Manchester United, will be an evening of a few reunions.

Famously, Ruben Amorim flew in to London for talks with the Hammers a year-and-a-half ago. Talks he would later apologise for, having turned his back on the Premier League outfit and committing his future instead to Sporting Lisbon.

That was, of course, until Manchester United came calling five months later. Man United succeeded where West Ham failed, securing the services of a coach who had ended Sporting’s two-decade wait for a league title in the hope that he could bring about a similar resurgence at Old Trafford.

On Thursday night, Amorim will face off against the team he held negotiations with in the relatively recent past. The Red Devils boss will also find himself going head-to-head with a very familiar face on the visitor’s team sheet.

Mateus Fernandes, West Ham United’s £40 million Portugal Under-21 captain, made his senior debut under Amorim in October 2022.

If Fernandes’ emergence enchanted The Lions’ iconic head coach – another to graduate from the fabled Sporting academy – then his eventual departure in the summer of 2024 had Amorim bemoaning the harsh financial realities of Portuguese football.

Ruben Amorim felt he was forced to sell West Ham United ace Mateus Fernandes

As highly as Amorim rated Fernandes, the youngster would come to be seen as a somewhat ‘sellable’ asset.

Heading into the 2024/25 Primeira Liga campaign, Amorim was determined to hang onto Morten Hjulmand, Goncalo Inacio and star striker Viktor Gyokeres.

But, in order to keep the spine of his brilliant Sporting side together, the head coach had to accept that a £15 million bid for a then-20-year-old midfielder who had spent the previous season on loan at Estoril was good much to turn down.

A necessary evil, if you will. Selling potential in order to retain proven quality.

“Obviously, we have to sell,” Amorim said, Fernandes’ move to Southampton allowing Sporting to keep Gyokeres for another year while also retaining both midfield powerhouse Hjulmand and stylish centre-half Inacio.

“What we lost is a very valuable young player who, in my opinion, has the characteristics to be a great player. But choices were made.

“Mateus was a player who cost us a lot [to sell], but when [the board] asked me if we can lose Inacio, I say no. If we can lose Morten, I say no. When they ask me if we have to hold on to Viktor, I say we have to hold on to Viktor.

“Then, we have to sell.

“We really wanted to keep Mateus. Honestly, I also think Mateus would have liked to stay, despite having a great contract and going to a big league. It was a difficult moment for everyone, but we have to make choices.

“In the end, I, as the coach, also make them.”

Fernandes’ determination won over the Manchester United boss

As Manchester United are now discovering – West Ham have offered Kobbie Mainoo a chance to escape the Old Trafford bench in pursuit of a World Cup spot – opportunities to young players are not simply handed out under Ruben Amorim.

He insisted, when a teenage Fernandes forced his way into the first-team three years ago, that his debut only came about because West Ham’s number 18 earned it.

“[Fernandes] worked hard for this and he has to live up to it,” Amorim said at the time. “It’s also a message for all the young people at Sporting, who have to fight and work hard to join the first-team.”

Freddie Potts and his West Ham teammate can outrun Man United at Old Trafford

If Mateus Fernandes proved to be an example to his Sporting peers, the £40 million acquisition is also shaping up to be a leading figure in Nuno’s attempted West Ham resurgence.

Freddie Potts and Mateus Fernandes have revolutionised the Hammers’ engine room, bringing the intensity, mobility and technical qualities so clearly lacking among the death rattle of the Graham Potter regime.

Up against an Amorim-led Manchester United side whose central midfield pairing of Casemiro and Bruno Fernandes is bordering on the geriatric in footballing terms, 22-year-old Potts and 21-year-old Fernandes could have a huge part to play on Thursday evening.

“I spoke with the manager. He told me some things I needed to learn and work on,” Fernandes said after he and Potts helped strangle Newcastle’s expensively-assembled midfield in a 3-1 win last month.

“I will continue to work.

“I am playing with top, top players. It’s so easy to play with Paqueta, Potts, Guido [Rodriguez], [Andy] Irving… We have a lot of quality.

“Sometimes, we need to defend and stick together. When we have the ball, we need to score. It is so simple.”