Manchester United boss Erik ten Hag continues to fight for his job as Ineos weigh up the Dutchman’s future ahead of the summer transfer window.
United looked to be in a pretty good place just a year ago as Ten Hag secured a third-place finish in his first season at United.
We saw encouraging signs from United and Ten Hag was backed with the signings of players like Andre Onana, Mason Mount and Rasmus Hojlund.
Many expected progress this season but it just hasn’t materialised with United actually taking a large step backwards.
Ten Hag subsequently finds himself under immense pressure and is ultimately trying to prove himself to Ineos.
Sir Jim Ratcliffe and co are looking at every possible solution to take United forward and having already made key appointments, Ten Hag’s future is under the microscope.
Some want to give Ten Hag more time after a chaotic season, some believe that United need to make a change.
We likely won’t hear a decision until the end of the season but the managerial market is starting to take shape.
Manchester United watching managerial market
One of the arguments against making a change has been that there are so many clubs targeting new managers this summer.
Barcelona, Bayern Munich and Liverpool have all had a head start on United having announced their managers are leaving at the end of the season.
Those clubs are now starting to make decisions though and the market looks a lot different to what many expected.
Bayern are now focusing on appointing Austria boss Ralf Rangnick, a name few expected to seriously be in the mix to replace Thomas Tuchel.
Rangnick – United’s former interim boss – wouldn’t have been in contention to replace Ten Hag, so Bayern aren’t taking a potential Ineos target away.
Liverpool are reportedly going for Feyenoord’s Arne Slot, another name which hasn’t been mentioned in conjunction with United.
Both Bayern and Liverpool missed out on Bayer Leverkusen’s Xabi Alonso, so are now going for more left-field moves in their quest to find a new manager.
The real stunner is that Barcelona boss Xavi has now pulled a U-turn on his decision to leave the Camp Nou this summer.
Barcelona have managed to convince Xavi to stay, taking them out of the running for a new manager this summer.
United-linked managers could still move
When those three clubs were hunting for a new manager, nobody could have predicted that the managers taken off the market would be Rangnick and Slot.
That means that a number of managers linked with United could still be landed this summer if Ineos decide to go in a different direction.
Graham Potter continues to be linked with United whilst Tuchel will be out of work this summer and speculation surrounding a move to Old Trafford has ramped up in recent days.
Ruben Amorim at Sporting has been linked earlier in the season and Roberto De Zerbi – linked heavily with Barca, Bayern and Liverpool – is understood to be on the Ineos radar.
Bologna’s Thiago Motta has been mentioned too although Juventus could yet move for him amid questions over Massimiliano Allegri’s future.
Ineos will certainly have taken note of the recent managerial moves and may well believe that there are more options to replace Ten Hag than initially anticipated.