Manchester United have reportedly identified England manager Gareth Southgate as their preferred candidate to replace Erik ten Hag.
It remains to be seen if Man Utd will definitely decide to go down the route of sacking Ten Hag, but if they do it seems Southgate and his entire Three Lions coaching staff would be targeted by the Red Devils, according to a report from the Sun.
Southgate has done an impressive job during his time in charge of England, taking them to the 2018 World Cup semi-finals, and then to the final of Euro 2020, where they were unlucky to lose on penalties to Italy.
Still, the 53-year-old is not everyone’s cup of tea, with some England fans questioning his tactics, particularly in the big games, where the team has often seemed overly cautious and defensive in their approach.
Southgate also has minimal club experience to speak of, so it seems like quite a leap for him to leave the national team for one of the biggest clubs in the Premier League, and indeed the world.
Southgate to Manchester United – is he really an upgrade on Ten Hag?
There’s no doubt that MUFC have some justification in looking out for a new manager after some unconvincing work done by Ten Hag since he arrived at Old Trafford.
The Dutch tactician impressed while he was at Ajax, but we haven’t really seen that style of football from his United side so far, and one imagines Sir Jim Ratcliffe and INEOS might be tempted to make it the start of a new era at the club this summer.
Southgate, however, seems like a risky choice for United, and one imagines he wouldn’t be in the conversation for other top jobs, unlike, for example, Brighton boss Roberto De Zerbi, or highly-rated young Sporting Lisbon coach Ruben Amorim.