Man Utd want ex-player to be Erik Ten Hag’s assistant

Anything to relive the glory days

Manchester United reportedly want a former player to be the assistant manager to Erik Ten Hag or whoever the club's next permanent boss is once a final decision has been made. Talks are well underway to find a permanent successor to Ole Gunnar Solskjaer after Ralf Rangnick's temporary spell comes to an end in a couple of months' time. It has been reported that conversations have been held with Ajax boss Erik ten Hag about the vacancy at Old Trafford. https://twitter.com/FootballJOE/status/1506580104545292294 Other names such as Paris Saint-Germain's Mauricio Pochettino and Sevilla's Julen Lopetegui have also been considered for the role, but Ten Hag seems to be the overwhelming favourite at present.

Why are United preparing now?

It's been another dismal campaign for United on the pitch who look as far away from a title challenge as they have done in recent years and also crashed out of the Champions League and FA Cup much earlier than they would have hoped. Yet another rebuild is expected to take place at United, starting with a new boss and officials at the club have reportedly requested that the new manager's number two be a former player.

Who is in contention?

Stretty News have claimed that one of those is current BT Sport pundit and former United defender Rio Ferdinand, however the hierarchy at United are not convinced that he would be the right person for the job. Ferdinand has also since claimed that the rumours are nonsense in a tweet which said: "Who’s feeding you this sh*t! Put myself forward yanoooooo," before several laughing emojis. https://twitter.com/rioferdy5/status/1506636685894774785 Another ex-player in the frame is Robin van Persie. It would make sense given he is the same nationality as Ten Hag and is also an extremely popular figure amongst the United fanbase. Van Persie is also said to be keen on taking up the role and United are keen for talks to progress swiftly and have everything prepared for the start of next season. Related links:

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• Man United have spoken to Erik ten Hag about becoming the club’s next manager
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