Ruben Amorim, who was considered a candidate for the Liverpool job, has now apologised for flying to the UK for talks to leave Sporting CP for another club.
Prior to Liverpool’s agreement to hire Feyenoord manager Arne Slot, Amorim was widely considered the front-runner to succeed Jurgen Klopp.
It transpires that the Portuguese was never considered the leading candidate by those within the club, with Slot emerging as their priority after Xabi Alonso committed himself to Bayer Leverkusen.
While Liverpool made contact with their eventual choice, Amorim made a public trip to England to hold talks with West Ham instead.
This, it was claimed in some parts of the Portuguese media, was designed to force Liverpool’s hand as he looked to land the job at Anfield.
Whether that is true or not is unclear, but speaking in a press conference on Saturday, Amorim apologised to Sporting CP, the players and their fans for his “mistake.”
“Obviously my trip was a mistake, the timing was completely wrong, it didn’t seem right at the time,” he is quoted by Sky Sports.
“It was wrong, especially when I’m so demanding with my players and always the first to say that each one’s actions can overpower the team.
“I have already removed players from the squad for much less. It was my mistake, I have to accept it and live with it.
“It didn’t seem so bad at the time, but thinking about it later it’s very clear. I gave explanations to the players and the staff. Now it’s time to move on.
“Obviously, I also use the public part here to apologise to the Sporting fans, the staff and, mainly publicly to my players for the mistake I made.
“It was a mistake because the fact that we are close to winning the championship, nothing has been done yet, and the team leader causes this noise, is a mistake. Whether or not he is authorised.
“And I’m the biggest defender of that. That’s why I said it is an error.”
Sporting CP are two wins away from winning the Primeira Liga for the second time under Amorim, with rivals Porto their next opponents on Sunday night.
Amorim is believed to have held exploratory talks with Liverpool at some stage, but repeated claims that he had agreed terms – and even that his agent had purchased property in the city – proved laughably false.
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