And United continue to dominate the news.
We all know how badly Alex Ferguson and Manchester United want Michael Ballack to step into Roy Keane’s violent boots, but the Scot may feel the club has gone a tad too far with their latest recruiting tactic.
Former Bayern Munich coach Ottmar Hitzfeld has claimed to German newspaper Die Zeit that United have offered him the job,
“Yes, there has been an offer from United.”
He added: “I want to get back to football and next summer would be a good time to do that. I am ready for a new challenge.”
“My wife Beatrix would go to Manchester with me.”
Perhaps in a pre-emptive strike, Ottmar is already putting the moves on Ballack despite reports that he’s already decided to stay at the German champions,
“Michael is a world-class player and as a fan of Germany I would say it would be good for our national team if one of our top players went abroad again,” said Hitzfeld.
It’s difficult to tell whether Ottmar is being entirely truthful about United’s approach, it seems that if any official contact was made the club would have made it clear that any revelations to the press would jeopardize things just a tad considering Ferguson is still very much in charge. However, Hitzfeld’s credentials cannot possibly be called into question – the German coach was voted the best club coach in the world in 2001 after leading Bayern to the Champions League and Bundesliga double, in the process becoming the first manager to lead two different clubs to European Cup glory after winning the competition with Dortmund as well.