Ruben Amorim spotted boarding plane laid on by Premier League owners as Liverpool move set to be hijacked by rivals

RUBEN AMORIM has been spotted boarding a plane to London amid ongoing talks with West Ham.

The Sporting Lisbon boss has emerged as the Hammers’ top managerial target with David Moyes likely to leave east London when his contract expires this summer.

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According to CNN Portugal, club officials organised a flight to England for Amorim on Monday ahead of a proposed meeting at the London Stadium.

He left accompanied by businessman Raul Costa following Sporting’s training session on Monday.

The Lions now have two scheduled days off before returning to training on Thursday, giving Amorim some time to continue talks in person.

Amorim would prove a huge coup having become the favourite to succeed Jurgen Klopp at Liverpool.

The 39-year-old is the favourite choice of Hammers technical director Tim Steidten who has led talks with potential candidates.

Amorim would be open to taking the job and has a release clause in his Sporting contract but is taking his time over making a decision given the vast interest in his services next season.

Former Wolves and Real Madrid manager Julen Lopetegui is also being considered having been put forward for the role.

West Ham have admired Lille boss Paulo Fonseca in the past as well as former Paris Saint-Germain manager Christophe Galtier.

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Galtier was close to becoming Hammers boss a year ago but is now in charge of Qatar Stars League club Al-Duhail.

Former Bayern Munich and Germany manager Hansi Flick has also attended a game at the London Stadium this season.

No contracts have been formally offered to any potential managers at this stage.

Moyes has shown irritation at questions over his future in recent weeks, while club sources insist no final decision will be made on his future until the end of the campaign.

The club had offered the ex-Everton manager a new two-and-a-half year deal in December after wins over Manchester United and Arsenal but talks stalled after a dip in form in January.

Moyes has insisted he is relaxed about the situation, while players have also said they will remain focused on the games and not the manager’s future.

However, if Moyes were to stay club bosses wanted to see a rally in terms of results following their exit from the Europa League last week.

With that in mind, Sunday’s 5-2 defeat to Crystal Palace will have not helped his case.

The Scot turned on his players following the defeat and said he did not want to talk about his future.

Moyes said: “I am giving no excuses whatsoever. The players got praised for their performance on Thursday night. But today was so bad I cannot put it into words.

“I am so disappointed for supporters who came in today and in truth I am embarrassed to sit here and be speaking on behalf of the team and the way they have performed today but I am the manager.

“Maybe we’ve lost a wee bit of the tough culture that we’ve had, the pride in making sure that we didn’t concede and were hard to play against and difficult opposition.”

A late run into the European spots for West Ham could salvage Moyes’ position, though West Ham are currently eighth with all their rivals having at least two games in hand.

Should Manchester City win the FA Cup, seventh place will be the lowest any side can finish to qualify for the Europa Conference League.