Manchester United ‘held face-to-face talks’ with shock manager to replace Erik ten Hag after Ratcliffe announced he will be continuing at Old Trafford next season
Before opting to continue with Erik ten Hag going ahead, Manchester United reportedly consulted with Marco Silva, the manager of Fulham, according to sources.
It comes after the team announced that Ten Hag will captain United for a third season after conducting a thorough end-of-year evaluation and speaking with a number of applicants.
They also took into consideration Mauricio Pochettino, Gareth Southgate, Thomas Frank of Brentford, and more well-known figures like Thomas Tuchel and Roberto De Zerbi. Before he committed to a new contract with Ipswich, Kieran McKenna was also considered.
Silva was one name that remained mostly out of the public realm. He supposedly spoke with United the week before the FA Cup final, having led Fulham to another mid-table finish (13th place and 47 points, compared to 10th and 52 in his first year back in the Premier League).
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According to The Athletic, United spoke with Silva face-to-face just two days prior winning the championship, around the time Ten Hag had his pre-game news conference reaffirming his intentions to stay for the 2024–25 season despite some rumors that a decision to fire him had already been taken.
At the time, Silva was another name associated as a potential outsider for the Chelsea position that was open. De Zerbi was another topic of discussion between United and Tuchel and Pochettino that week. Additionally, it is said that Roberto Martinez and Ruben Amorim—a name linked to Chelsea, West Ham, and Liverpool—were also brought up.
Ten Hag, however, is now able to sign a potential contract extension after United decided to continue with him. The FA Cup victory and the trophies he won in each of his first two years in management have been acknowledged by Ineos and the think-tank led by Sir Jim Ratcliffe as grounds to support Ten Hag.
Ten Hag’s work with young players has also pleased United, and the team has taken notice of the factors that contributed to the troubles in 2023–2024.
