Report: Aston Villa could now pay world-record fee for title-winning coach, would be club’s 7th most expensive buy ever

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Aston Villa have their eyes on bringing in Sporting Lisbon manager, Ruben Amorim, as they look for a successor to Steven Gerrard.

Gerrard was given the boot in midweek after another miserable performance saw Villa lose 3-0 at Fulham. It was the last straw for Villa’s ambitious owners, who have spent fortunes trying to turn the club into European challengers in the last few seasons.

Of course, all eyes are now on who will replace Gerrard. A number of names have been mentioned, with the likes of Mauricio Pochettino, Brendan Rodgers, and the aforementioned Amorim all in the frame.

And according to The Mirror, any move by Villa to bring Amorim in would come at a huge expense. It’s claimed Amorim holds a release clause of around £26.3m in his Sporting contract. However, Villa are not put off by that as they plot an ambitious appointment. Should they pay it, it would be a world-record fee for a manager after Bayern paid £25m to land Julian Nagelsmann.

In terms of Villa’s spending, Amorim would be their seventh most expensive signing ever, per Transfermarkt. Only recent signings like Emi Buendia, Ollie Watkins, and Diego Carlos would sit above him.

TBR’s View: Villa And Amorim A Risky Play

It seems Villa’s owners are absolutely desperate to get things right but their way of getting it right seems to revolve around throwing as much money as possible at things.

Amorim is clearly a brilliant coach but he is a young manager at 37 and it would be a massively bold play by Villa to pay such money and then back him the market.

If Villa do pay more than £26m to get Amorim, then he has to get it right. If he does come in and fails, then Villa’s owners might well feel they’re running down blind alleys over and over.