Regarding Amorim, I agree.
Neither is United the same as Sporting, nor is the Premier League the same as the Primeira Liga. There were also special factors that helped us back then, some might apply this time as well, others not so much.
On the similar side, we also didn't have European football that year. That allowed him to better manage the squad, which was relatively small.
But there were also unique conditions. Our squad was very young and inexperienced, and was therefore not really a concern for the other title contenders until later on. And being young, they could also have felt the pressure had we had fans in the stands, which didn't happen because it was during the lockdown.
At United there will always be pressure to perform and win.
As for the meeting, I'll give you a quick timeline.
As early as October last year we've been getting reports in the media that Sporting would be open to letting Gyökeres leave for a sum lower than the release clause.
The numbers weren't always the ones we had later on, it shifted quite a few times. It was 80, then 70, then 75, etc.
Somewhere around April or May, the number (stabilized) into the 60+10 we've heard regularly now, and at no time it was mentioned who had made that agreement.
Then the season ended, the market opened and the pressure began.
About mid June, Sporting's president made a statement where he said this:
"At the end of last year's summer transfer window, Viktor's agent asked for a meeting with me.
I don't normally have meetings with agents, but I accepted eventually.
In that meeting the agent wanted to know if Sporting would be holding for the release clause again next (this) summer, to which I said no.
Viktor would be 27 by then, and it would be virtually impossible for a player of that age to be sold by a Portuguese club by 100 million. Even 90 million.
The agent then tried insistently to get me to commit to a specific value, which I refused to do.
Almost a year out, with so many things that could happen, it would be impossible to predict what the player's value would be by then."
He said a couple more things, but this is the main part of it.
After that statement, that's when Romano said that the deal had been made by Hugo Viana while he was still at Sporting, and this is what doesn't make sense.
He didn't refute anything the president, said, only claimed it was Viana instead who had done it.
Now I ask, if Viana's supposed agreement was enough for them to pull all this crap, why then was he so insistent on having a meeting with the president?
If Viana's word was enough, why did he try so hard to get Varandas to commit to a number?
The most likely answer is that he wouldn't, and therefore Viana either made that deal before the meeting and it was voided because Varandas didn't agree to it, or never did it in the first place and the agent is lying.
Either way, the agent, the player and his spokesperson fabrizio were claiming an agreement that at least one of them knew wasn't real anymore, if it ever was.
. I'm sure relatively speaking it is a good amount of money, but if you were running a business and your main source of income was fees and you just waived them to get deals thorough, you'd be up shit creek very quickly. What's to say his other clients will not ask him to do the same now? Akliouche, who's on his books really wants to go to Palace, but they don't want to pay Monaco. Is he going to do the same to make it happen for the player?