HUGO Viana’s likely move to Manchester City may not be the last time a key figure from Sporting Lisbon ends up at the Etihad.
Viana was close friends with Ruben Amorim well before they teamed up at Sporting to transform the club from cash-strapped underachievers to champions on and off the pitch.
Sporting’s current sporting director is set to replace Txiki Begiristain in the same role at City in early 2025.
And when the time comes for City to find a successor to boss Pep Guardiola, it would be a surprise if they did not take a close look at Amorim – already described by Guardiola as “one of the best” coaches around.
What is a shock, for a British audience at least, is the news that Viana has been lined up by City to take on one of the biggest jobs in football.
He first hit the headlines in 2002 when Newcastle paid £8.5m to sign him from Sporting, a record fee for a 19-year-old, in the first major English deal involving an agent named Jorge Mendes.
The midfielder was one of the hottest talents in Europe, after helping Sporting to win the Portuguese league and impressing at the European Under-21 Championship.
But although Viana enjoyed the company of mentor Gary Speed, he was unable to oust the Welshman from the central midfield role that he craved.
After two seasons spent mainly on the wing and the periphery at St James’ Park, Viana had two loan spells before joining Valencia permanently.
After he hit the post with Portugal’s second penalty in the shootout that ended England’s 2006 World Cup at the quarter-final stage, he pretty much disappeared as far as English fans were concerned.
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It is fair to say that Viana is also regarded as an unfulfilled talent in his homeland, despite an impressive spell with Braga later in his career.
But it was in his final season at that club that he deepened his friendship with Amorim, having already been in international squads with him.
It would prove to be a key relationship.
Viana returned to Sporting as sporting director in 2018 as part of the new regime of president Frederico Varandas.
The club was in turmoil. A group of ultras, allegedly furious at Sporting’s 2017/18 campaign, had invaded the training ground and attacked players and staff. Bruno Fernandes was among nine stars to try to tear up their contracts, although he later signed a new deal.
It took time for Viana to find his feet. He and Varandas went through three permanent head coaches as things on the pitch took time to improve.
In January 2020, Sporting sold best player Fernandes to Manchester United for an initial £47m. Weeks later the club spent £8.65m – the third highest fee ever for a manager – to poach Amorim from Braga.
Most people Viana and Varandas were mad to invest so much hope and money in the unproven coach, not least because of his playing history with fierce rivals Benfica.
But it proved to be an inspired gamble.
In Amorim’s first full season, 2020/21, Sporting claimed their first league title since the one Viana had won as a player 19 years before.
A second Portuguese championship followed last season, and Sporting are also winners off the pitch.
Transfermarkt values the current squad at £370m, more than double what it was when Viana joined.
Yet in that time, Sporting have brought in more than £650m from player sales and loans, including big-money sales like Fernandes and fellow Manchester United midfielder Manuel Ugarte.
Returning to the Champions League has given Sporting the financial stability to hold out for big fees, and Viana always has a succession plan.
Ugarte was signed as a replacement for Joao Palhinha, and then sold at a profit to Paris Saint-Germain last year, with Morten Hjulmand arriving as his successor.
The job for Viana at City will be different.
But the Premier League champions and Begiristain, who has had a key role in identifying and appointing his successor, believe he is up to it.
And it is not wild to suggest that Viana and Amorim could be the partnership entrusted with building on the Guardiola/Begiristain legacy.
