Former Manchester United defender Rio Ferdinand has warned Erik ten Hag that new Red Devils minority shareholder Jim Ratcliffe will not hesitate to swing the axe if the club suffers a poor finish to the season.
Ratcliffe saw his £1.4billion investment for a 27.7 per cent stake in the club rubber-stamped by the Premier League earlier this month, with his INEOS company taking control of football operations at the club.
With the inconsistent Red Devils sitting sixth in the Premier League table, eight points off the Champions League places and the FA Cup their only chance of silverware, it is proving to be another testing season at Old Trafford.
Pressure is therefore cranking up on Ten Hag, with speculation mounting that failure to secure a Champions League spot at the end of the season could bring his two-year spell in Manchester to a premature close.
This is a view that Ferdinand subscribes to, as he believes that the new regime at Old Trafford will not be afraid to act if they need to.
“If he runs it close [to finishing in the top four], if they see an upturn in form and the environment at the training ground and can see something where ‘we can see what it looks like going into next season if we add the right pieces to it’… a lot of moving parts have to fall into place for him to stay,” Ferdinand said on his FIVE YouTube show.
“If they don’t finish the season well, they’re losing games and it looks like the dressing room isn’t a harmonious place, one thing I would say is I don’t think Jim Ratcliffe and his team are shy of making big decisions.
“It won’t be a big thing for them if they had to [sack him]. I don’t think they look at it and go ‘We’ve got to work out the media and PR’. No, no. What’s right for Man United now? We’ll do.”
Should Ratcliffe decide to pull the trigger, reports suggest that incoming sporting director Dan Ashworth, has drawn up a shortlist including Julen Lopetegui, Graham Potter and Ruben Amorim.
A bigger name has been linked in the French media however, as Foot Mercato report that another incoming director - INEOS boss Jean-Claude Blanc - wants to see former Real Madrid boss Zinedine Zidane appointed, with an approach for France legend set to be made in the coming weeks.
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