Manchester City are strongly considering the Sporting head coach, Rúben Amorim, as their next manager if Pep Guardiola leaves when his contract expires at the end of the season.

Guardiola said last weekend that “anything can happen” in terms of his future. The importance of City having a succession plan is clear and the link with Amorim, regarded as one of the best young managers in Europe, is understandable. The 39-year-old is a close ally of Hugo Viana, who will take over from Txiki Begiristain as City’s director of football next summer.

The desire for a smooth transition means Viana, who has been at Sporting since 2018, will collaborate with Begiristain before the 60-year-old retires at the end of the season. There is the prospect of an immediate recruitment challenge given that Guardiola is yet to make a decision on whether to extend his deal. He has not ruled out staying at City, who are keen not to lose the best manager in the world.

There have been indications that Amorim will be a leading contender if a vacancy at City arises. The Portuguese has been on the radar of top clubs for a while and was in the running to replace Jürgen Klopp at Liverpool last summer. Amorim, who ended up missing out on the Liverpool job to Arne Slot, has also had discussions with Chelsea in recent years.

Most recently he was in West Ham’s thoughts when they were planning to replace David Moyes. Amorim flew to London for talks, only to return to Portugal without an agreement being reached. Amorim, who won his second Portuguese title with Sporting last season, would later apologise for showing disrespect to his employers by speaking to West Ham.

There was some scepticism at the time that Amorim would seriously consider moving to West Ham, who ended up appointing Julen Lopetegui. The former Braga manager has been content to stay at Sporting and wait for a top job. He has showcased his talent to Premier League sides in European competition, particularly by beating Tottenham in the Champions League in 2022 and knocking Arsenal out of the Europa League a year later.