Manchester United have reportedly decided to sack Erik ten Hag after Saturday’s FA Cup final and will start the INEOS regime with a new manager next season. The Red Devils are claimed to be ready for a change in the Old Trafford dugout regardless of the result against Manchester City at Wembley Stadium.
Ten Hag is under brimming pressure near the end of a disastrous second season in charge, which produced United’s worst Premier League and Champions League campaigns in recent memory.
Sir Jim Ratcliffe’s £1.3billion investment in the club and the sweeping off-field changes that have followed have only intensified the uncertainty.
INEOS have overseen the confirmed and incoming arrivals of a new chief executive, sporting director and technical director at the helm.
Continued poor results and a lowly eight-place league finish have condemned Ten Hag to an expectation that he will receive his marching orders in the coming weeks.
And that is the decision INEOS reportedly plan to take once United’s final and biggest game of the season is out of the way.
According to Sky Sport transfer expert Gianluca Di Marzio, the Red Devils will part ways with Ten Hag at the end of the campaign.
Mauricio Pochettino’s surprise Chelsea departure is said to have placed him firmly in the frame to succeed the Dutchman in the hot seat.
Pochettino mutually agreed to leave Chelsea on Tuesday despite achieving a return to Europe by ending the season with five consecutive wins, finishing sixth.
The Argentine was considered the other candidate in a two-horse race when United’s former decision-makers appointed Ten Hag in 2022.
And he could now receive a second shot at sealing a long-linked opportunity to land at Old Trafford just weeks after walking away from Stamford Bridge.
The report adds that ex-Brighton and Hove Albion boss Roberto De Zerbi and his targeted replacement, Ipswich Town’s Kieran McKenna, also feature on the shortlist.
McKenna has also been linked with the Chelsea job as the Blues reportedly search for a young, progressive coach to replace Pochettino.
But Di Marzio claims that the former United assistant manager will be a leading candidate to succeed Ten Hag if he doesn’t move to West London.
If he does, it’s said a push for Pochettino would be on the cards. Thomas Tuchel and Graham Potter have also been strongly mooted as potential targets.
Ten Hag will consider the FA Cup final as one last chance to convince INEOS that he is the right man to take United forward into a third year. But the club’s new higher-ups may have already settled on a decision.
