Manchester United has contacted Ajax coach Erik ten Hag regarding the vacant manager’s position.
Since Ole Gunnar Solskjaer was fired in November, Ralf Rangnick has been acting as a temporary manager.
Old Trafford is emphasising that it is too early to talk about favourites for the job, despite the club’s desire to complete the process as quickly as possible.
Mauricio Pochettino, the manager of Paris Saint-Germain, is also on the shortlist.
Julen Lopetegui, the coach of Sevilla, has admirers at United, as does Luis Enrique, the coach of Spain, though the chances of him agreeing to take a club post before the World Cup later this year are regarded to be slim.
United are keeping an eye on the situation at Chelsea, even though German manager Thomas Tuchel has made no public hint that he is considering leaving the Blues despite their current plight.
Ten Hag, like Pochettino, is under contract until the year 2023.
That is unlikely to be an issue if United decides the 52-year-old Dutchman is the ideal guy for the job.
Ten Hag has been with Ajax since December 2017 and led them to within a minute of reaching the Champions League final in 2019 before Lucas Moura’s historic goal for Tottenham.
The fact that many of the Ajax players have not gone on to have similar success elsewhere is a testament to his coaching ability.
Ajax won the Dutch league title in 2019 and 2021, and they now lead PSV Eindhoven by two points.
With Paul Pogba, Jesse Lingard, Edinson Cavani, and Juan Mata all out of contract, whoever takes the United job will have a busy summer.
Pogba was depressed following the Mourinho squabble.
Furthermore, the futures of several senior players, including Cristiano Ronaldo, are unknown, albeit it is unclear who would be willing to take on the 37-year-astronomical old’s pay.
Rangnick is expected to stay at Old Trafford for another two years as a consultant after the season ends.
Ten Hag, who previously worked in the Bundesliga, has stated that he “loves the German model” of sporting directors collaborating closely with first-team coaches……….
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