Just a few weeks ago, Manchester City's game with Sporting CP on Tuesday looked like being a metaphor for an upcoming changing of the guard, with Ruben Amorim shaping up to take over from Pep Guardiola when the Catalan presumably calls time on his glorious nine-year spell in charge at the Etihad Stadium at the end of the season. With City having already recruited Hugo Viana from Sporting to step into Txiki Begiristain's shoes as director of football, Amorim made perfect sense as Guardiola's successor.
But instead of working together on a transfer of power, Amorim and Guardiola are now set to be sworn enemies on the opposite sides of the divide in Manchester. This week's Champions League meeting offers a taste of what's to come in the Manchester Derbies to come in December and April, and possibly beyond then.
Guardiola has had City on tenterhooks since entering the final year of his contract, making no clear pronouncements about his future while also not ruling out staying for an extra year or two. City have insisted that they never showed any genuine interest in hiring Amorim as his style of play does not match with the club's vision. The timing of Amorim's departure from Sporting to take over at United, however, is interesting.
The 39-year-old stated that his desire was to leave Sporting at the end of the season, but that United had told him it was "now or never". Could he have been holding out for an approach from City for next season, only to learn, potentially from Viana, that Guardiola was now intent on prolonging his stay? After all, Guardiola and City announced their previous two contract extensions during the November international break, which is just around the corner.
Perhaps we will never know whether City ever held talks with Amorim. What we do know is that one of the top young coaches in Europe is now off the table completely and City's options for replacing Guardiola, be that next summer or in 2026, have narrowed.
But which coaches remain in the frame to eventually take the baton from Guardiola? GOAL runs through the 12 best candidates...