Ruben Amorim says he has never had any doubts about his takeover at Old Trafford ahead of his first Manchester derby this weekend.
Before becoming the new boss of Manchester United, the Portuguese was linked with Pep Guardiola's replacement at Manchester City.
Amorim had a close relationship with sporting director of football Hugo Viana before it was announced that he would take up a similar position at the Etihad Stadium.
Guardiola has since committed his future to City, but Amorim has stressed he was solely focused on becoming United's new head coach ahead of his first Manchester derby next Sunday, live on Sky Sports.
'We never had that [a conversation]. This was my only option,” Amorim said.
“When Manchester United spoke to me, I had no doubts because I already had something in my mind that it could be a possibility.
“There was nothing wrong with Manchester City or Hugo Viana.”
Thursday's Europa League comeback win against Viktoria Plzen saw United take a big step towards the knockout stages and boost their chances of finishing in the top eight, meaning they would bypass the play-off round.
It was a welcome boost ahead of Sunday's trip to stumbling rivals City and another step forward as Amorim looks to build a side in his image.
The 39-year-old has been used to dealing with the pressure of a derby since his days against Benfica at Sporting – and he is enjoying his first in England.
“I don't really focus on the details, I just want to improve the team,” he added. “I can't experience it as a normal derby, as it should be when there are two great teams fighting for the title.
“That is not the case at the moment, so it is only one more match against a very good opponent.
“Both teams are struggling at the moment and I hope it can have the real feeling of a derby in the future.
“I know it's very important for our fans, but my goal now is to improve the team by winning games. We will try to win this match.
“The big teams can react at any time. They are in a better place than us in terms of their understanding of the game, the way they play and the confidence they have – even in moments like this.”
“We have a lot to concentrate on in our team, so of course we will have a strategy and with that we will try to win the match.”
In midweek, City slumped to their seventh defeat in ten games in all competitions as they were beaten 2-0 at Juventus in the Champions League.
Second-half goals from Dusan Vlahovic and Weston McKennie at the Allianz Stadium left Guardiola's side languishing in 22nd place in the standings.
With just two games of the league stage remaining, a top eight finish and automatic qualification for the last 16 seems to go further than that. They face a battle to stay in the top 24 and claim a play-off spot.
Amorim has already beaten City this season, with his Sporting side winning 4-1 in the Champions League match. So is this a good time to play them?
“I never think about things like this,” he said. “We will be up against a great opponent, so I am more focused on our problems.
“We have a lot of problems here. I'm more focused on what we have to do on Sunday to win the game.”
Andre Onana's mistake allowed ex-Burnley striker Matej Vydra to give Plzen the lead early in the second half, but United substitute Rasmus Hojlund quickly leveled before firing home two minutes from time to seal Amorim's first away win as United boss to secure.
In response to a question about Onana's form, Amorim added: “We have to take it as it is. He's had a situation like this in the past, so we have to work on this.
“We try to build a lot with the goalkeeper, which allows us to bounce [pass] with Matthijs [de Ligt] very often. On this occasion we had an interruption during play.
“We were given a difficult goal, but we managed to recover.”
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