Sir Jim Ratcliffe has Gareth Southgate ‘as number one choice’ to replace Ten Hag at Man United

Jim Ratcliffe reportedly has Gareth Southgate as his number one target for the Manchester United job.

United investor Ratcliffe is confident he can prize the England manager away from the national team job after the Euros this summer, according to reports.

Southgate has managed the likes of Luke Shaw, Marcus Rashford and Harry Maguire before and has a close relationship with United's incoming director of football, Dan Ashworth, who recently left his post at Newcastle United.

The former Crystal Palace, Aston Villa and Middlesborough defender has managed the national team since 2016. He enjoyed 57 caps as a player but is expected to leave his position after the the Euros.

The 53-year-old has improved the fortunes of England leading them to a FIFA World Cup semi-final in 2018, Euros final in 2021 and most recently a FIFA World Cup quarter-final in 2022. Fans have voiced their dismay at his team's pragmatic style, calling for more creativity and flair in attack.

Reports also suggest Dan Ashworth is close to agreeing a deal at United.

Ashworth was successful at Brighton and Hove Albion where he was Technical Director between 2019 and 2022.

In 2022, he moved into the Sporting Director role at Newcastle United. On February 19th, Newcastle confirmed his departure as he commenced a period of gardening leave.

Gary Neville suggested Ashworth would be an astute addition to United when speaking on The Overlap.

"He’ll definitely look at things like the players they missed out on, and what was said about those players.

"Say, Luis Díaz goes to Liverpool, or Declan Rice goes to Arsenal, they’ll look at what they were we saying about Declan Rice because that historically was a Manchester player, Declan Rice.

"The best player in England, who was at another club like West Ham, United would sign that player."

However, Roy Keane was less optimistic about his potential arrival.

"You’re talking about Dan Ashworth coming into Manchester United and being the best for the job, but he doesn’t seem to hang around for long.

"He was at Brighton for a few years, and he’s only been at Newcastle for a couple of seasons, so you have to look at that too. There’s no doubt he’s brilliant at his job, but who is to say he won’t leave in 18 months for Real Madrid or Barcelona.”

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