ASTON VILLA want talks with Sporting Lisbon’s Ruben Amorim about becoming Steven Gerrard’s successor.
The former Portugal midfielder, 37, is one of Europe’s most promising young bosses and has previously interested Chelsea and Manchester United.
But Villa may have to pay a huge £20million release clause to get Amorim — which was too high for Wolves earlier this month.
Villa, who axed Gerrard following Thursday night’s humiliating 3-0 defeat at Fulham, turned their attention to Amorim after being told Mauricio Pochettino and Thomas Tuchel still covet Champions League jobs.
Brentford boss Thomas Frank is close to signing a new contract and appeared to rule himself out yesterday.
Amorim ended Sporting’s 19-year wait to become Portuguese champions by breaking Porto and Benfica’s stranglehold in 2020-21.
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Former Arsenal boss Unai Emery is another big name who Villa could target. His deal at Villarreal expires at the end of the season.
The fallout from Gerrard’s sacking continued yesterday as Villa confirmed five of his backroom staff, including Gary McAllister, had gone.
First-team coach Aaron Danks, appointed before Gerrard arrived, will take charge of Villa’s home clash with Brentford tomorrow.
Explaining Gerrard’s exit, CEO Christian Purslow said: “The Board has come to this decision following a full evaluation of results and performances over the calendar year.
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“We were clear when we appointed Steven we set an objective of continuous improvement but that has not been achieved despite everybody’s best efforts.”
Gerrard said last night: “I would like to thank everyone connected to Villa for their support shown to me during my time there.
“To the fans, I owe a debt of gratitude for the way you welcomed me. Villa is a club with a special history, I really wanted to bring back those memorable achievements, unfortunately it wasn’t to be.”
