Manchester United's talks with a surprise candidate from the Bundesliga have been revealed, with Erik ten Hag clinging to his job by a thread over the international break.
The Red Devils have endured another tough start to the season, with crisis talks taking place over the last week. Big-name boss Thomas Tuchel has been touted as his replacement – though recent rumours suggest he's in the frame for England.
With Ten Hag set to continue at Manchester United, however, new reports have emerged over his successor, with a surprise face in the frame.
Manchester United held talks leftfield appointment to succeed Ten Hag
Since arriving at United earlier this year, new partial owner Sir Jim Ratcliffe has stuck by Ten Hag. The INEOS billionaire attended the 2-2 draw with Tottenham in January following his proposed purchase being confirmed – and has been a regular overseeing the team since.
Over the summer, it was reported that other managers had been approached about the Old Trafford hot seat. Despite speculation, though, the Dutch incumbent kept his job and was backed heavily with investment in his playing squad.
According to BILD journalist Christian Falk, via a post on X (formerly Twitter), United made a surprise approach for Stuttgart boss, Sebastian Hoeness over the summer – who FourFourTwo ranked at No.15 in our list of the best managers in the world right now, in May of this year.
“Even before they extended the contract of head coach Erik ten Hag, the United bosses wanted to know whether Hoeness would be available for the job as United's manager,” Falk claims. He goes onto say that Hoeness declined.
The 42-year-old has had a superb year, taking Die Schwaben to second in the Bundesliga table and qualifying for the Champions League. He is apparently one of several managers to have been sounded out over the Old Trafford job, including countryman Thomas Tuchel, who was linked as early as April.
“Sebastian Hoeness – nephew of Bayern Munich legend Uli – has taken a fairly un-noteworthy group of players into the top four in Germany, spearheaded by super Serhou Guirassy, who can't stop scoring,” FourFourTwo's German football expert Ed McCambridge said of the Stuttgart boss. “It's been a fantastic story – and one that's been overlooked in a season in which the ultimate underdogs clinched the title. Still, Stuttgart back in the Champions League is a phenomenal achievement, given where the club has been in recent seasons.”
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FourFourTwo understands that Hoeness has no interest in leaving Stuttgart for United, even now, with the Bundesliga outfit competing in the Champions League this season after their excellent run last term. In our opinion, Hoeness would have been a bold pick but perhaps lacks the experience to deal with a lot of politics that come with the Red Devils gig.
Ten Hag looks set to take charge of Macnhester United's next fixture at home to Brentford, following the international break.
