ERIK TEN HAG has been sacked by Manchester United after their poor start to the season, with Ruud van Nistelrooy taking over as interim head coach as the Premier League club considers their options.
Van Nistelrooy has been installed as the early favourite to be handed the permanent manager’s job but United should have lots of other candidates.
Here are some of the potential contenders for the post at Old Trafford.
Ruud van Nistelrooy
The 48-year-old is a United great after scoring 150 goals in 219 appearances for the Red Devils.
He joined Ten Hag’s coaching team in the summer after previous coaching posts with Holland and PSV Eindhoven.
Following the departure of Ten Hag, Van Nistelrooy will take charge of United on an interim basis.
Xavi
Xavi enjoyed an impressive spell with former club Barcelona, where he took charge for three years before leaving in May.
The 44-year-old was appointed in November 2021 and steered the side from ninth in LaLiga to runners-up that season.
They were crowned league champions during Xavi’s first full campaign in charge and won the 2023 Spanish Super Cup.
Thomas Frank
The 51-year-old has impressed with his work as head coach of Brentford, where he took charge in October 2018 having previously served as assistant manager.
Frank led the Bees to the Premier League with promotion through the Championship play-offs in 2021 and the Dane has established the west London club in the top flight.
Brentford finished 16th in the Premier League last term and are currently ninth after nine games in the current campaign.
Gareth Southgate
The former England manager had been the bookmakers’ favourite for the United job in recent months.
Southgate’s only previous club management role ended in the sack at Middlesbrough in 2009, but he led the national team to a World Cup semi-final and quarter-final as well as reaching successive European Championship finals.
However, Southgate said earlier this month that he has ruled himself out of a return to coaching for the next year.
Edin Terzic
Terzic spent two seasons in charge of Borussia Dortmund before resigning in June this year.
During an interim spell in charge of the club, Terzic won the German Cup in 2021 and was appointed head coach in May 2022.
The club were Bundesliga runners-up in the 2022-23 season and reached the final of last campaign’s Champions League, where they were beaten by Real Madrid.
Ruben Amorim
Currently at Sporting Lisbon, Amorim has had previous links to clubs including Liverpool and West Ham.
The 39-year-old joined Sporting in 2020 and has won two Portuguese titles with the club.
His side are currently unbeaten so far in this year’s Primeira Liga, where they sit top of the table with maximum points from nine matches.
