Michael Owen says he doubts the Manchester United job will be on Zinedine Zidane’s radar this summer, but believes Thomas Tuchel is more than ‘capable’ of replacing Erik ten Hag in the hot seat at Old Trafford.
Ten Hag finds himself under intense pressure after an inauspicious campaign at United, with the club languishing down in eighth place in the Premier League table and battling to secure European football.
The Dutchman will be desperate to end the season on a high when his side take to the field for their FA Cup final clash with holders Manchester City, though widespread reports suggest the writing is already on the wall for the manager regardless of the result at Wembley on May 25.
Should United come out second best against their noisy neighbours, they will need to finish sixth to seal a place in the Europa League, meaning this weekend’s trip to the south coast to face Brighton could be critical for Ten Hag.
Speaking after United’s dramatic 3-2 victory over Newcastle, Ten Hag said it was not the ‘right moment to talk about’ his future given there are still two games remaining this term.
Gareth Southgate, Roberto De Zerbi, Thomas Frank, Kieran McKenna, Graham Potter and Zidane have all been linked with the Old Trafford giants, but Owen feels Tuchel could be the ideal candidate – providing Bayern Munich don’t make a U-turn over his future.
‘Zidane doesn’t speak much English so I’m not sure Man Utd would be on his radar personally. I would be very surprised,’ former United, Liverpool and England striker Owen told BoyleSports.
‘Graham Potter could be a candidate. I know Dan Ashworth is not officially working there at the moment, but he knows Potter and Southgate well so that’s probably where those links are coming from.
Tuchel would be an interesting one. If Bayern won the Champions League, could there be a U-turn? They haven’t won the league but if you offered them the Champions League only at the start of the season, they would snap your hand off.
‘But yes, he could become available and I think a lot of Chelsea fans regret parting with Tuchel. He is one big name capable of the job.
‘The one out of them I’d be most surprised at would be Zidane. I think it’s very possible it will be Southgate or Potter, they are very impressive guys. It was a difficult time when Potter took over, so you wouldn’t want to scratch his name and say it was an awful job. I don’t think Potter and Southgate are out of the question.’
Owen is confident Jadon Sancho could still have a future at United if Ten Hag departs, with the England forward catching the eye after returning to Borussia Dortmund on loan.
‘I think Sancho has a future at Man Utd under a different manager. If a new manager comes in, the slate is wiped for everyone,’ Owen added.
‘Sancho is a big asset, they paid a lot of money for him and he’s a depreciating asset at the moment so they need to do something, whether that’s to bring him back and sell him, utilised him, but to just leave him out on loan and get no benefit other than a contribution to his wages does not work for them.
‘So a new manager comes in, I would say the slate is wiped. Let’s start again and see what happens.’
Last month, Dwight Yorke urged United to raid Crystal Palace for Eberechi Eze and Michael Olise and Owen agrees that the duo would be ‘good signings’ for the Red Devils.
‘I think Olise and Eze would be good signings for Man Utd, I like them, their record with and without them is a contrast for Palace. I see that,’ he continued.
‘Yorke was a proper player himself, he knows what he’s talking about and I think they will be on the radar of a lot of top teams.’
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