Man Utd have reportedly lined up former Chelsea boss Thomas Tuchel as Erik ten Hag’s successor if they decide to sack the Dutchman, according to reports.
The Red Devils finished in a disappointing eighth position in the 2023/24 Premier League season with Ten Hag’s side coming in for a lot of criticism.
There were strong rumours that Ten Hag would get sacked no matter the outcome of their FA Cup final clash against arch-rivals Man City in the last match of the domestic calendar.
However, the unexpected victory at Wembley gave the Dutchman his second trophy in two years and has bought him time with new co-owners INEOS.
Man Utd looked at their options over the summer but they didn’t identify a target who they wanted to replace Ten Hag with, meaning the former Ajax boss has started this season in the Old Trafford dugout.
A poor start to the new campaign has already piled pressure on Ten Hag with Man Utd losing two of their first three Premier League matches to Brighton and Liverpool .
The Red Devils chief executive Omar Berrada insisted that the Man Utd hierarchy still back Ten Hag despite the club’s poor start to the season.
Speaking before the Red Devils’ 3-0 home loss to Liverpool, Berrada said: “Do we still believe in Erik? Absolutely. We think Erik is the right coach for us and we’re fully backing him.”
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And sporting director Dan Ashworth added: “I’ve really enjoyed working with Erik for the last eight weeks.
“I see my job is to support him in every way I possibly can and whether that’s operationally, whether that’s with recruitment, whether that’s with medical, whether that’s with psychology, whether that’s training ground flow, it’s just to take as much of that off him to allow him to fully focus on the training pitch and the match tactical plan to deliver success for Manchester United.”
The Daily Mirror claims that Man Utd ‘are likely to pursue Thomas Tuchel if they do choose to make a managerial change’ with ‘many of last season’s problems are still evident’.
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And now reports in Spain claim that the Premier League side ‘are already starting to look for reliable replacements for the bench’ with Tuchel ‘very popular’ at Old Trafford.
It is claimed that Tuchel ‘would not come alone’ as he has ‘asked’ the Man Utd hierarchy for one new signing in the January transfer window if he takes over.
Barcelona centre-back Ronald Araujo – who has been linked with Man Utd in the past – is ‘an old desire of Tuchel’ and the former Chelsea and Bayern Munich boss has ‘tried to sign him on more than one occasion’.
The report adds: ‘There are even rumours that he spoke directly to Araujo on the phone to express his admiration and his desire to have him on his team.’
Tuchel sees the Uruguay international ‘as a defender with the perfect qualities to reinforce Manchester United ‘s defence : speed, strength, aggression and a great ability to anticipate the movements of the opposition.’
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