Ruben Amorim can be forgiven a wistful glance towards Portugal as the team he left behind clinched another title.
His instinct when Manchester United came knocking in autumn had been to see this season out at Sporting Lisbon.
He had them nicely calibrated in his style, accustomed to winning and had, in Victor Gyokeres, one of Europe’s more reliable sources of goals.
Gyokeres scored his 39th league goal of the campaign on Saturday, his 57th in 49 appearances for club and country, as Sporting beat Vitoria to finish two points clear of Benfica and become champions for the third time in five years.