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The news of Xavi Hernandez’s sacking as Barcelona manager yesterday has thrown another cat among the pigeons in the race to become Manchester United’s next manager in the summer.
As Manchester United head to Wembley this afternoon for the FA Cup final against Manchester City, all focus is on the future of current manager, Erik ten Hag.
Since Thursday, there have been numerous reports from top journalists claiming that the new owners of INEOS have already made the decision to remove the director regardless of today’s result.
Several top coaches have been linked with the top spot such as Thomas Tuchel and Kieran McKenna.
It looked like a two-horse race for the job, although England manager Gareth Southgate, former Chelsea boss Graham Potter and Brentford manager Thomas Frank are also on the shortlist according to various reports.
However, Barcelona legend Xavi was sacked yesterday and his name has inevitably been linked with the soon-to-be vacant role.
Football365 cite reports from Spain which say that United have already made contact with Xavi.
The Red Devils are said to be “interested” in bringing the Spaniard to the Premier League and it has been “leaked” that “his name is on the list of possible replacements”.
This follows reports earlier this week that Mauricio Pochettino has also been added to the shortlist after parting ways with Chelsea.
However, the agency insists that there is one favorite for the job and that both Xavi and Pochettino will only be back-up options.
“Chelsea boss Thomas Tuchel, who just left Bayern Munich, is a manager who ‘convinces the board a lot more’,” claims Football365.
This backs up reports from Germany this morning which say Bayern Munich are confident Tuchel already has an agreement with United to be their next manager, although yesterday also saw a report saying United have doubts about the German.
Meanwhile, Ten Haag said in an interview that INEOS told him they plan to continue with him because the plot thickens faster than a poorly written 1980s soap opera.
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