MANCHESTER UNITED have confirmed the appointment of Ruben Amorim as their new team boss.

Amorim, 39, was announced on Friday as United's new head coach - a first in history for the men's team - and will takeover on November 11.

The Portuguese tactician, dubbed the Special One 2.0, had been heavily linked with a number of top clubs around Europe including Liverpool, Bayern Munich and Barcelona.

It was also widely reported that Manchester City had sounded out Amorim as the potential successor to Pep Guardiola, if the Spaniard were to leave on the expiry of his contract in 2025.

City had distanced themselves from those reports, but the link was only strengthened with the news of Sporting CP director Hugo Viana moving to the reigning Premier League champions next summer.

A report during the Amorim-United saga suggested United CEO Omar Berrada had moved for the ex-midfielder due to his intimate knowledge of City's operation, having previously worked at the club.

It means United have moved for another City transfer target in an effort to gazump them.

While this new era under Ineos could have already turned the leaf and made this merely coincidental, previous United deals for City targets have not ended well.

The most recent major example of this is the signing of Cristiano Ronaldo.

"CR7" made a triumphant return to Man Utd after shock transfer links emerged suggesting he was set to move to Man City.

United moved swiftly to prevent a shock move of the legendary figure to their rivals, and while Ronaldo personally had a good goalscoring season, his arrival severely hindered the overall system of the team and stopped the club from moving for other, more urgently needed, targets.

Ronaldo is not the only case of United moving to one-up City, only for the Red Devils to be bitten on the bottom by the deals not working out as well as hoped.

Harry Maguire and Fred were both linked with City before arriving at Old Trafford.

Former academy stars for United and City respectively in Paul Pogba and Jadon Sancho had reportedly drawn from the Etihad outfit before they completed moves to the red side of Manchester.

Pogba and Sancho signed for United for £89m and £73m respectively with big hopes behind them being able to lead the club to glory.

However, Pogba's time at Old Trafford did not go to plan with inconsistent performances, while Sancho had an almighty fallout with Ten Hag after a disappointing two seasons before being froze out in his third.

Alexis Sanchez is arguably the biggest case of United falling foul of City transfer trickery.

Then-Arsenal star Sanchez was known to be pushing for a move away from the Gunners.

City were the most heavily-linked club, but like in the aforementioned cases, United made a late move for the attacker, eventually completing a swap deal that saw Henrikh Mkhitaryan go the other way.

However, Sanchez bombed at Old Trafford and drained huge resources, with his financial impact working out at a staggering £505,000-a-week, and £11.9m paid for each goal scored.

The consistent red herring results could be a cause for concern given how Amorim had been linked with City in the past.

However, a new era could signal a new result. Only time will tell.