Luis Garcia and Jason McAteer are split on their thoughts on Ruben Amorim taking over at Liverpool.
The Sporting Lisbon boss has emerged as a frontrunner to take the reins from Jurgen Klopp. He moved to the front of the queue after previous favourite Xabi Alonso confirmed his intent to stay with Bayer Leverkusen.
Amorim has since spoken out on his future and refused to confirm that he would still be Sporting boss next season. There were also claims that the Reds had already found an agreement with him.
Amorim has since rejected those suggestions. McAteer has claimed that he could see him staying in Portugal and is not ready for a move to the Premier League quite yet.
Speaking to BeIN Sports, he said: “That’s him saying stop asking me, I’m still the manager of Sporting and I’ve got a job to do. When Klopp announced he was going to leave, there was a clamour for names. The shortlist was Xabi Alonso, Postecoglou, De Zerbi, and Amorim. Obviously Alonso has ruled himself out.
“[Amorim] has done a great job, he’s been there since 2020. He’s delivered the Portuguese league to Sporting, he’s well respected, he's a young coach, he had a decent playing career. Is he ready for the Premier League?
“I’m not so sure. I think it’d be a bigger gamble than a De Zerbi or a Postecoglou but he’s certainly on the shortlist. Personally, I don’t think he’s the man.”
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While McAteer is not fully behind Amorim replacing Klopp in the Anfield hotseat, the same cannot quite be said of Garcia. The Spaniard has revealed that he met the Portuguese on a coaching course and can see Amorim being a success in charge of the Reds.
“I had the chance of meeting Ruben Amorim on our coaching licence (course) we did together - I can tell you, he is very honest and professional and I think that today proved that,” he said to CBS Sports.
“For me, I think he’s a fantastic young manager who can bring something different, who had that fantastic league [win in 2021] and a style very similar to Jurgen Klopp has shown us during the last ten years.
“So why not? He’s got the experience of playing in the European competition and also won trophies in Portugal. For me, he's a fantastic candidate for the future of Liverpool.”
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