Erik ten Hag, Zinedine Zidane and Mauricio Pochettino are the three men being named most when it comes to Manchester United’s new manager.
Zidane seems unlikely, given the repeat reports he just doesn’t fancy a move to English football and has other plans for his future. Pochettino’s situation at PSG isn’t thought to be fully secure but there’d need to be dramatic developments for him to take charge quickly, and it’s considered unlikely Ten Hag will walk out on Ajax before the end of the season.
That leaves Manchester United looking for an interim candidate, and there’s uncertainty over how quickly they’ll find one. Given how out-of-nowhere the Ole Gunnar Solskjaer appointment was, there’s every chance a surprise is on the way.
L’Equipe take a look at the situation, and whilst they mention Pochettino, they have little in terms of fresh info to offer about the PSG manager, although there’s absolutely no insistence he’ll be staying.
The French newspaper believe that whoever takes over in the short-term will want to wait until after the Chelsea match to be confirmed in the role.
L’Equipe explain: ‘Tomorrow, MU will play Villarreal in the Champions League, before moving to Chelsea on Sunday in the Premier League. For the interim who will arrive after Carrick, it is better to wait, no doubt, until the end of this complicated sequence.’
Following the tough match against Thomas Tuchel’s Chelsea, Manchester United face Arsenal and then have a relatively straightforward rest of December, January and February, before things get seriously difficult again in March.
L’Equipe clearly believe skipping that Chelsea match is a good idea.
PSG face Manchester City at the Etihad on Wednesday, a shaky result there would increase claims around Pochettino’s short term future.
