Man Utd to step up manager hunt with Mauricio Pochettino and Erik ten Hag on four-man shortlist
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MANCHESTER UNITED have drawn up a four-man shortlist in their search for a permanent manager, reports claim.
That is according to , who report that Paris Saint-Germain's Mauricio Pochettino, Ajax's Erik ten Hag, Spain's Luis Enrique and Sevilla's Julen Lopetegui are the top candidates.
United sacked Ole Gunnar Solskjaer in November following a poor start to the campaign, despite a busy summer transfer window that saw Jadon Sancho, Raphael Varane and club legend Cristiano Ronaldo moving to Old Trafford.
Solskjaer's place was filled by Ralf Rangnick on an interim basis with the German coach set to undertake a consultancy role for the next two years once the season ends.
It means the Red Devils are still searching for a permanent replacement in the dugout and the process will begin in the coming weeks.
The Manchester giants are focused on managers with experience of coaching some of Europe's biggest teams at the top level.
Pochettino has been a long-term target for United especially after his impressive stint at Tottenham, whom he led to the Champions League Final in 2019.
Ten Hag has been doing a marvellous job at Ajax where he has won two Eredivisie titles and made it to the Champions League semi-finals in 2018-2019.
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Enrique led Spain to Euro 2020 as well as the 2022 World Cup and won a treble with Barcelona in 2015.
Lopetegui has been impressive at Sevilla as the Andalusians are currently second in LaLiga and also coached Porto, Spain as well as Real Madrid in the past.
United picked up a last-gasp victory over West Ham on Saturday and are currently fourth in the Premier League.
Rangnick's men enjoyed a positive weekend as top-four rivals Arsenal and Tottenham dropped points against Burnley and Chelsea respectively.
The German coach has managed to steady the ship to a point at Old Trafford and revealed he would be keen to stay on as permanent manager.
Rangnick said: "Right now I’m fully aware they might be looking for a new manager.
“If they will then speak with me about that we will see. Maybe if they ask my opinion and everything goes well and we develop the team I might even make the same recommendation to the board that I did at Leipzig twice when I recommended it might be a good idea to keep working with me for one year.
“But this is all hypothetical. For me now it’s about winning the next games and this is the major focus.”
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