Man Utd to sack Ten Hag as Ratcliffe ‘works behind the scenes’ for ‘dream’ boss after lack of support

Manchester United owner Sir Jim Ratcliffe wants to replace Erik ten Hag with former Real Madrid manager Zinedine Zidane, according to reports.

Ten Hag is under pressure to finish the season strongly and lead the Red Devils back into the Champions League.

It has been a very shaky campaign for United, who currently sit eight points behind Aston Villa in fourth, although they could be bailed out by a fifth Champions League spot being granted to the Premier League.

They did the league no favours in their bid to earn a fifth slot by finishing bottom of their Champions League group this term.

A lot has been said about Ten Hag’s long-term future at Old Trafford with Thomas Tuchel leaving Bayern Munich and Zidane out of work.

Rumours have accelerated in recent weeks following Ratcliffe’s minority takeover of the club.

INEOS chief Jean-Claude Blanc is expected to join the Red Devils as a director wants Zidane, who he is ‘a great admirer’ of and was desperate to bring to Paris Saint-Germain during his time at the Ligue 1 side.

Read more: Erik ten Hag ninth in Premier League sack race

This is claimed in a report from Foot Mercato journalist Santi Aouna, who says Ratcliffe and Blanc are eager to appoint Zidane, as the former aims to bring United back to the top of world football.

The report says Ratcliffe has ‘outsized ambitions’ and a part of his bid to make Manchester United a force again is to replace Ten Hag with the three-time Champions League-winning manager.

Ratcliffe’s lack of public support for Ten Hag is noted, which ‘is not good news’ for the Dutch manager, especially as INEOS ‘work behind the scenes on the recruitment of a new major coach’.

The ‘dream’ is to give Zidane the reins at Old Trafford, although ‘it will not be easy’ to bring in the ex-Real Madrid boss.

Zidane is currently ‘waiting on the right project to get back on track’ and has recently said he is open to managing in Italy, while the Bayern Munich job will be available at the end of the season.

The next weeks will be critical and speaking this week, Zidane has said he wants a job having not worked since leaving Madrid in June 2021.

“Why not? Anything can happen,” he said when asked if he would return to coaching. “Now I’m doing other things, but we’ll see – I’d certainly like to return to the bench.”

Read now: Arsenal are taking on ‘financial superpowers’ of Liverpool and Man City