Manchester United believed that Tottenham boss Mauricio Pochettino would have joined the club this summer – but opted for Ole Gunnar Solkskjaer on a permanent basis instead.
Through conversations with Pochettino, United bosses understood that the Argentine manager wasn’t willing to walk out on Spurs mid-season, but was prepared to make a move to Old Trafford.
While Tottenham prepare for a Champions League semi-final tonight, results for Manchester United have dipped since Solskjaer was handed the role permanently in March, raising questions over whether the club should have waited to find a more experienced manager in the summer.
According to Andy Mitten, editor of the United We Stand fanzine, the Old Trafford hierarchy decided to hire the Norwegian knowing that they could have had Pochettino in a few months.
Speaking on the FourFourTwo podcast, Mitten revealed that people within the club were not expecting Solskjaer to get job when he came in as caretaker in December, and the Spurs boss was prepared to walk.
“I don’t think anyone expected Ole Gunnar to get the job,” he said. “When people were writing at the start of this season as things got worse and worse under Mourinho, the names coming forward were [Zinedine] Zidane and Pochettino.
“Pochettino, I understood, was willing to join United this summer. He wasn’t going to walk out on Tottenham [until] pre-season. Of course he’ll never say that now.”
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