Leicester City manager Brendan Rodgers and Paris Saint-Germain boss Mauricio Pochettino are candidates to be the next Manchester United manager, according to The Telegraph’s Jason Burt.
Current boss Ole Gunnar Solskjaer is under heavy pressure at the moment and naturally, plenty of talk about who could replace him is going on.
Antonio Conte is the obvious candidate and clearly the best option available but it appears the Red Devils might look elsewhere.
There is said to be particularly strong interest in Brendan Rodgers and, to a lesser extent, Mauricio Pochettino.
Next Manchester United Manager: Brendan Rodgers and Mauricio Pochettino in the Running
Premier League Experience Important
The report states that a manager with Premier League experience would be important to Manchester United – who are said to have given Solskjaer three games to save his job.
Winning two of those games might be enough for the Norwegian but remains a big ask with Tottenham Hotspur, Atalanta and Manchester City the opponents.
Antonio Conte, Brendan Rodgers and Mauricio Pochettino have all been involved toward the top of the Premier League over the years – Conte lifted it in his first season with Chelsea.
It is claimed that the club have run through the numbers for Conte and decided that it might be too expensive. Conte is probably likely to demand he take more control at the club than previous managers have had, want to bring numerous staff members with him – a problem when he was in talks with Tottenham Hotspur over the summer – and may demand several signings too.
However, that also begs the question as to why Rodgers and Pochettino are being looked at with their clubs likely to not want to let them go, forcing United to pay compensation in any case – both would be less demanding than Conte is the answer reported.
Either way, Burt suggests Manchester United’s decision to give Solskjaer longer may be influenced by the need to buy themselves more time in the search for the next Manchester United manager.
The Red Devils have made contact with some leading agents who may have potential candidates as clients.
Though, small hope remains that Solskjaer might turn it around.
Can’t Afford for Things to Go Wrong This Time
Manchester United have not been anywhere near where they should be for far too long now. There’s been hints of impending success, and ultimately, Ole Gunnar Solskjaer, for the most part, has done a positive job at the club.
That said, it’s clearly fallen apart this season, the football has been atrocious and one feels it is inevitable that he will leave his position as manager, despite having signed a new contract earlier in the year.
Appointing Antonio Conte would be at odds with the current setup at Old Trafford and it’s easy to see why the Manchester United hierarchy would want to look elsewhere.
The problem is – as is the case with Brendan Rodgers and Mauricio Pochettino – almost every other option is unavailable.
It’s time Manchester United start acting like the name they go by, and if that means widescale changes to the hierarchy once again, they have to do it if they want to be successful.
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