Manchester United may have already made a huge decision over their manager position for next season, with some inside information on Erik ten Hag's future leaking courtesy of beIN Sports' coverage of Sunday's defeat to Arsenal.
Erik ten Hag under pressure at Man Utd
This has been a dismal season at Old Trafford – one of the worst in the club's history, in fact – with performances in the Premier League embarrassing at times. Sunday's 1-0 loss at home to Arsenal was far from their worst result of the campaign, but it means they have suffered a club-record 14 defeats out of 36 games in the competition, and in truth there looked an acceptance that only losing 1-0 was a good day at the office.
For that reason, Ten Hag is under significant pressure to keep his job beyond the summer, and the fact that so many managers are being mentioned as possible replacements suggests that he is clinging on to his job.
Thomas Tuchel is seen as a leading contender to replace the Dutchman this summer, with the current Bayern Munich boss seen as United's answer to Jurgen Klopp. Graham Potter is also being considered, having not worked since being sacked by Chelsea after a short stint at Stamford Bridge.
The likes of Gareth Southgate and Roberto De Zerbi have also been constantly mentioned as candidates to take charge at Old Trafford, with the former possibly leaving his England post after Euro 2024.
Pundit makes huge Man Utd manager claim
Speaking to Richard Keys on beIN SPORTS [via The Daily Mail], former Liverpool defender Jason McAteer claimed that a current Manchester United player believes Ten Hag is "done" and Southgate will be Man Utd's new manager: "He plays for Man United and I had a conversation with him on Friday, I bumped into him because I live just outside the area.
"We got into conversation, great lad, and I asked him (about the) end of the season and what he thought and he gave me no inclination that the manager was there to stay. In fact we spoke about different names and who we thought will be a good fit and I got no inclination from him."
McAteer added that the player in question "smiled but that wasn't the name" when asked about Tuchel, and gave a "no" regarding Jose Mourinho, before saying "yes that was the name" when bringing up Southgate.
On Ten Hag's future specifically, he claimed: "Footballers have an inclination when the manager's job is on the line and they obviously know and I just got the feeling that it's done, it's done."
It does appear as though Southgate is a genuinely big target for United at this point, but there would likely be a mixed reaction to him coming in. Granted, he has largely done a good job as England manager, but being in charge of an international team is still very different to managing one of the biggest club sides in the world, with the intensity of the job greater on a week in, week out basis.
Erik ten Hag
2022-present
Ralf Rangnick (interim)
2021-2022
Michael Carrick (interim)
2021
Ole Gunnar Solskjaer
2018-2021
Jose Mourinho
2016-2018
Louis van Gaal
2014-2016
Ryan Giggs (interim)
2014
David Moyes
2013-2014
Sir Alex Ferguson
1986-2013
Ron Atkinson
1981-1986
Southgate has also fallen short in big matches a number of times at major tournaments, arguably being out-thought tactically by other managers such as Roberto Mancini in the Euro 2020 final, and he doesn't have enough pedigree at club level to suggest that he warrants a job the size of the United one.
His relationship with Dan Ashworth could be a reason why Sir Jim Ratcliffe wants him, assuming the Newcastle ace comes in as sporting director, but Southgate feels a long way from being a surefire bet just yet.