Ruben Amorim reacts to comments made by Jose Mourinho, saying, “It makes no sense,” as Liverpool links persist.

One of the top candidates to succeed Jurgen Klopp at Liverpool is Ruben Amorim.

In the wake of intense speculation that the Sporting CP manager may follow Jurgen Klopp at Liverpool, Ruben Amorim has rejected the moniker “Special One 2” bestowed upon him by certain English media outlets.

After former front-runner Xabi Alonso declared he would be staying at Bayer Leverkusen for the 2024–2025 season, the 39-year-old became the overwhelming favourite to take over as the next manager at Anfield. Alonso had brought the German team dangerously close to winning their first Bundesliga championship.

Amorim is currently the subject of increased attention in England; some have even dubbed the Portuguese manager “the Special One 2.” Amorim recently informed the media he was focused on Sporting and extremely glad to be there.

However, the nickname that compares the former Benfica player to fellow Portuguese coach Jose Mourinho has been rejected by the player. The Portuguese remarked, “I have no illusions about it and it makes no sense.” “I still recall how everyone last year speculated about my potential departure from Sporting.

“The coach of Sporting and the legendary Jose Mourinho are not comparable.”

With a game remaining, Sporting leads second-place Benfica by one point, and Amorim looks set to lead the team to a second Primeira Liga championship.

Mourinho would have equaled his total with two league titles in Portugal. Naturally, Mourinho also enjoyed great success in Europe with Porto, when he won the Champions League in 2003–04 and the UEFA Cup in 2002–03.

On the strength of this, “the Special One” left for England. “Please don’t call me arrogant, but I’m European champion and I think I’m a special one,” Mourinho remarked at his Chelsea unveiling.

When asked if he finds it bothersome that there is talk of him joining Liverpool before of Sporting’s match against Benfica in the second leg of the Taça de Portugal semifinal, Amorim had a lighthearted response. “The only thing that annoys me is that Sporting had someone else play my position,” he said in jest. “I told [Hugo] Viana, Sporting’s director of football, to take it easy even today.”

Amorim did defeat Borussia Dortmund in the group stage of the 2021/22 Champions League, so he does have some European experience. The next season, in the same competition, his Sporting team eliminated Arsenal from the Europa League after finishing third in their Champions League group and defeating and drawing with Tottenham Hotspur.

Liverpool would have to pay Sporting’s rumoured €20 million (£17 million) release clause in order to get the highly regarded tactician before 2026.