Manchester United have started the interview process as they look to appoint a new manager, and first to speak to the club formally was Ajax boss Erik ten Hag, 90min reports.
United’s managerial search has been intensifying in recent weeks with football director John Murtough leading the process, and club chief executive Richard Arnold will make the official announcement once it is approved by the Glazer family.
Murtough and his staff, including current interim boss Ralf Rangnick, have been doing homework on the leading candidates for around a month, which has seen Ten Hag and Paris Saint-Germain boss Mauricio Pochettino emerge as the leading candidates.
Ten Hag is believed to have held talks on Monday, and is due to be followed by Pochettino this week. Also scheduled to talk to the club are Sevilla boss Julen Lopetegui and Spain national coach Luis Enrique.
Lopetegui and Enrique are seen as outsiders at this stage, but Arnold insisted that the search was thorough and Murtough is showing that with the fact they are talking to four high-calibre candidates.
Sources have informed 90min that United are looking to make a decision within the next two weeks, during the international break. And even if that decision is not officially communicated, internally it will be known and decided upon.
United feel it is important to make a decision as soon as possible, so that the club can progress with their plans for next season and beyond.
Ten Hag has impressed United during the vetting process and is widely considered the favourite for the role. Pochettino, however, is someone with a number of admirers within corridors of power at Old Trafford and ‘should not be discounted’ from the battle for the manager’s role.
Both Pochettino and Ten Hag have 15 months left on their current contracts with Paris Saint-Germain and Ajax respectively.
United are looking for their next permanent manager having parted with former boss Ole Gunnar Solskjaer last November, appointing Rangnick as interim boss to succeed him in the short term with a view to making a longer term appointment ahead of the 2022/23 season. Rangnick himself is set to remain with the club in a consultancy role.
