Legendary former Manchester United manager Sir Alex Ferguson is reportedly pushing hard for a 52-year-old friend of his to replace Erik ten Hag as Red Devils boss this summer.
Man Utd manager latest
The managerial situation at Old Trafford is continuing to rumble on, with Ten Hag seemingly not knowing if he is being retained or moved on in the coming weeks. He has been under pressure for some time, but United's FA Cup triumph has arguably made it harder for Sir Jim Ratcliffe to sack him, having won a trophy in each of his two seasons in charge.
England manager Gareth Southgate appears to be a top target for INEOS, but deciding to bring him in could be met with plenty of negativity, not least because he finds himself under pressure with the Three Lions heading into Euro 2024, following his side's 1-0 defeat at home to Iceland last Friday.
Ratcliffe is also believed to have met Thomas Tuchel with regard to replacing Ten Hag in the Old Trafford hot seat, but the German has since decided against taking charge, instead choosing to have a breather after his stint at Bayern Munich.
Arguably the other standout option currently is Mauricio Pochettino, who left Chelsea by mutual consent at the end of the season, and who was seen as a front-runner to come in at United back in 2022, following the sacking of Ole Gunnar Solskjaer.
Sir Alex Ferguson wants 52-year-old as manager
According to a new update from HITC, Ferguson wants Pochettino to be Manchester United's next manager, replacing Ten Hag this summer in the process.
The report states that the legendary Scot "has the ear of" Ratcliffe, and is "very close to Pochettino". It goes on to add that he "continues to press the case for the Argentine to be given the chance to take charge – having previously missed out to Ten Hag for the United job in 2022".
Like so many of United's rumoured targets, the jury is out a little with Pochettino, who doesn't quite have the reputation he did during his Tottenham days, when he guided the north Londoners to the 2019 Champions League final. Since then, the Argentine hasn't exactly excelled at Paris Saint-Germain and Chelsea, despite spending lots of money in that time.
That being said, the 52-year-old is a superior option to Southgate, considering he has proven himself far more at club level, shining with Southampton before his move to Spurs and also winning one Ligue 1 title with PSG.
Chelsea
51
1.78
Paris Saint-Germain
84
2.15
Tottenham
293
1.84
Southampton
60
1.45
Espanyol
161
1.22
The fact that Ferguson has reportedly endorsed Pochettino as the standout option to come in and be Ten Hag's successor has to be seen as a good thing, although it is worth remembering that the United icon liked the idea of David Moyes as his replacement back in 2013, in a move that didn't work out at all.