Manchester United are working towards trying to get new manager Ruben Amorim in place before Sunday’s Premier League home game with Chelsea, talkSPORT understands.

United are in advanced talks with Sporting Lisbon after verbally agreeing personal terms with Amorim to succeed the sacked Erik ten Hag.

Amorim had been linked with the Man City job amid uncertainty over Pep Guardiola’s futureGetty

Amorim had also been identified as a potential successor to Pep Guardiola at Manchester City, but sources in Portugal say he was not willing to wait for the Spaniard to make a decision over his future.

City insiders say Amorim’s style of play does not fit perfectly with their squad and there is also growing confidence Guardiola will stay for at least one more season when his contract expires in the summer.

The Premier League champions have agreed to make Sporting chief Hugo Viana their new sporting director when Txiki Begiristain stands down next summer – and many thought this put Amorim in the box seat to replace Guardiola.

However, United met Amorim last week to lay the foundations for him to replace Ten Hag after concluding that United were not making rapid enough progress under the Dutchman in terms of performances and results.

After two-and-a-half years in charge, Ten Hag became the fifth permanent manager to be sacked by the Red Devils since Sir Alex Ferguson quit in 2013.

Ruud van Nistelrooy has been named interim boss – and the club legend will oversee the visit of Leicester in the Carabao Cup on Wednesday – live on talkSPORT 2.

However, that could be Van Nistelrooy’s only match in charge, with United chiefs pushing to get Amorim in position before their next Premier League match against Chelsea on Sunday.

The much-improved Blues are currently fifth in the Premier League table, six points ahead of United, who are languishing in 14th after a losing four of their opening nine top-flight matches this season.

United have also failed to win any of their opening three matches in the Europa League.

The Red Devils made unwanted history last term, falling to their lowest-ever finish in the Premier League era (eighth), suffering their most defeats and finishing with a negative goal difference for the first time in 34 years.

Ten Hag has left the club 12 points adrift of league leaders Man City after just nine gamesGetty

Amorim’s Sporting Lisbon take on Nacional in the quarter-finals of the Taca de Liga cup on Tuesday night.

The Portuguese boss appeared at a pre-match press conference on Monday, hours after United announced the decision to sack Ten Hag.

“I was expecting that question and obviously I am not going to talk about my future,” he said when asked about the United links.

“I am not going to speak about my future because no matter what I say I’d have to always talk about it.

“Since the first day, I said it was not worthy to ask about it and I am not going to make any comments about my future.”

talkSPORT understands Amorim is set to triple his current £2.15million-a-year salary, while United will pay at least £8.3m to Sporting in compensation.

The 39-year-old was also linked with the West Ham vacancy during the summer and travelled to London for talks.

He ultimately rejected the Hammers’ offer and apologised to Sporting fans for taking the meeting.

The former midfielder has developed a reputation as one of Europe’s hottest coaches after guiding Sporting to two Primeira Liga titles in four years.

Amorim is known for championing youth and delivering high levels of intensity with a 3-4-3 system.