Sir Jim Ratcliffe and Manchester United appear to be assessing multiple candidates to replace Erik ten Hag in the Old Trafford hotseat. It’s recently emerged that United have “started to gather information” on Inter boss Simone Inzaghi and could be willing to offer him a £150k-per-week deal amid concurrent interest from Liverpool, Chelsea and Barcelona.
Elsewhere, it’s been suggested that Ratcliffe could look to the Germany coach Julian Nagelsmann to “revitalise” the Red Devils, with the former Bayern man the “leading candidate” for the job right now. Nagelsmann is apparently interested in the position and sees the opportunity to “make the jump” after the European Championships if Ten Hag is dismissed. But these two aren’t the only names in the frame by any means.
Ratcliffe dreams of appointing Zidane
According to Foot Mercato journalist Santi Aouna, former Real Madrid manager Zinedine Zidane is the dream for Ratcliffe and United. It won’t be “easy” to lure him to Manchester, so the club are also considering “some alternatives”.
In an article for Foot Mercato, Aouna reports that Ten Hag is yet to receive the “official” backing of United’s new shareholder, with INEOS already “working on recruiting a new coach” behind the scenes.
Zidane, who left Real Madrid in June 2021, has been waiting for the “ideal project”, and has recently indicated a willingness to coach in Italian football after spending five years of his playing career at Juventus. The question now is whether Ratcliffe can convince him to have a crack at the Premier League, with a response expected “in the coming weeks”.
United offer may arrive at ideal time for Zidane
Zidane has, of course, had two stints as the Real manager, the first from January 2016 to the summer of 2018 and the second from March 2019 to June 2021. It was hard for the second spell to live up to the first, when Zidane became the first manager in history to win three straight Champions Leagues and won La Liga too, but he was able to add another Spanish title and a Spanish Super Cup to his cabinet.
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The star has struggled for consistency since joining the club.
“Zidane has been key,” Real captain Sergio Ramos said in 2020. “He’s the captain of the ship and he led us right from the start of the season. He put a lot of faith in all of us players and we have always felt protected with Zizu. He believed in us, we’ve all believed in the work we have done and let’s hope that it’s valued properly. He’s a unique coach.”
Managers with most Champions League titles | |||
|---|---|---|---|
Rank | Manager | Club(s) | Titltes |
1 | Carlo Ancelotti | AC Milan, Real Madrid | 4 |
=2 | Pep Guardiola | Barcelona, Manchester City | 3 |
=2 | Zinedine Zidane | Real Madrid | 3 |
=4 | Ottmar Hitzfeld | Borussia Dortmund, Bayern Munich | 2 |
=4 | Vicente Del Bosque | Real Madrid | 2 |
=4 | Sir Alex Ferguson | Manchester United | 2 |
=4 | Jose Mourinho | FC Porto, Inter | 2 |
=4 | Jupp Heynckes | Real Madrid, Bayern Munich | 2 |
Virtually every elite club who have had a managerial vacancy in the past three years will have made checks on the availability of Zidane, but now it seems he’s finally preparing to make his comeback. Could United be in the right place at the right time?
