Ruben Amorim has apologised for holding talks with West Ham earlier this week and admitted his trip to London was a "mistake".
The highly sought after Sporting Lisbon head coach has been linked with a number of enticing opportunities around Europe in recent weeks, including roles in the Premier League.
Despite being heavily tipped to succeed Jurgen Klopp at Liverpool, Amorim flew to the UK to hold talks with the Hammers at the start of the week. But he's now admitted it was wrong of him to do so - even though Sporting had given him their blessing to make the trip.
Speaking on Saturday in Portugal, via Ojogo, Amorim said: "So let's get the elephant out of the room and I'll talk about it once. The first thing is to say that the club was aware of my trip. It's important and changes the context.
"Then, talk about the cloak of secrecy that surrounded the trip. I secretly parked the car outside, secretly walked past 15 people, past people and took photographs and got on a plane to take away a little bit of this thing that was all done behind the club's back, that didn't happen.
"Obviously my trip was a mistake, the timing was completely wrong, it didn't seem right at the time. It was wrong, especially when I'm so demanding with my players and always the first to say that each one's problems don't go away. They can overpower the team, I have already removed players from the squad for much less. It was my mistake, I have to accept it and live with it."
Since Amorim flew out for talks with West Ham, it has been theorised in Portugal that the 39-year-old only made such a move in a bid to pressurise Liverpool, who were thought to be considering him in their own search for a new manager.
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However, the Reds have since opened talks with and agreed a deal for Feyenoord head coach Arne Slot, who is now poised to take charge at Anfield once the current campaign concludes.
The 45-year-old made it clear that he wanted to pursue such an opportunity earlier this week - and with a compensation package now agreed, it would take a seismic U-turn from either party to open the door for Amorim to land one of the Premier League's top jobs.
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