Earlier this evening, eight senior players who were vital to Manchester United’s success departed Old Trafford in response to the club’s failure to fire Eric Ten Hag

Gareth Southgate is ‘identified as an outsider’ who could take Erik ten Hag’s spot at Manchester United
According to reports, Man United is considering a number of possibilities, including Gareth Southgate, should they decide to break ways with Erik ten Hag this summer.

Bookmark Gareth Southgate, the manager of England
Manager of England, Gareth Southgate Picture: PA
Should Erik ten Hag leave Manchester United this summer, England manager Gareth Southgate may be taken into consideration as ten Hag’s replacement.

Ten Hag, 54, is in his second season at Old Trafford, but he has faced a lot of criticism recently because United has already lost 11 games in the Premier League and was eliminated from the League Cup and Champions League before the holidays. The Reds are now 11 points outside of the top four in the Premier League standings, in sixth place.

Because of this, he may have to struggle to maintain his position at the conclusion of the season after Sir Jim Ratcliffe, the club’s new minority shareholder, took over management of the football department, according to stories that have surfaced in recent weeks. The Manchester Evening News has learned that Ineos has evaluated possible Ten Hag successors in the event that they determine in the upcoming months that a management change is necessary. Roberto de Zerbi, the Brighton coach, is reportedly a target.

Paul Scholes indicated earlier this week that he believes Ratcliffe’s Ineos has already decided Ten Hag’s future, with United being “a million miles away from a team that should be challenging for the league” at the moment. Southgate has now been identified by ESPN as one “outsider” who might be selected at Old Trafford if Ten Hag was fired at the conclusion of the season and the former defender for Crystal Palace and Aston Villa was prepared to sever his eight-year relationship with the Three Lions following Euro 2024.

The 53-year-old former Middlesbrough player is rumoured to have had a “long-standing” friendship with Dan Ashworth, the former director of Elite Development for the FA, who United is interested in hiring as their new sporting director.

Roberto De Zerbi of Brighton & Hove Albion and Thomas Frank of Brentford are also mentioned in the article as players under observation by United executives. The West Londoners’ data-driven strategy has made them “admirers” at Old Trafford.

Though “with doubt surrounding many areas of the club right now, efforts are being made to plan for every eventuality,” the source notes that the expense of paying out Ten Hag plus hiring a new manager could “prove too high for United.”

ESPN reports that Ten Hag’s reputation “remains high in Europe” and that Germany is already showing interest in the former Ajax manager, should he decide to leave Old Trafford. If United decides to switch managers this summer, they will find themselves in a situation they have never been in before—they will have no obvious and viable replacement.