Erik ten Hag: Who will replace him at Manchester United?

A look at the frontrunners to take over the Old Trafford reins after the Dutchman left the club following a dire start to the season

Former Barcelona's head coach Xavi Hernandez has emerged as a frontrunner for the Manchester United manager's job. EPA

Former England manager Gareth Southgate left his role after the Euro 2024 final. Getty Images

Graham Potter has been out of work since leaving Chelsea in April 2023. PA

Ipswich manager Kieran McKenna coached at Manchester United between 2016 and 2021. Getty Images

Brentford manager Thomas Frank is known to be admired by Manchester United's co-owners Ineos. PA

Ruud van Nistelrooy joined Manchester United as manager Erik ten Hag's assistant in July. Action Images

Inter Milan's coach Simone Inzaghi is admired by Manchester United. AFP

Sporting Lisbon coach Ruben Amorim has already won two titles since joining them in 2020. EPA

Former Barcelona manager Xavi Hernandez has emerged as the early favourite to replace sacked Erik ten Hag as the new Manchester United boss. The Dutchman left the Old Trafford club on Monday after two and a half years at the helm.

Former Ajax coach Ten Hag led United to the Carabao Cup in 2023 and the FA Cup in 2024 but the club dropped to 14th place in the Premier League after their defeat at West Ham on Sunday. Here, we look at the potential candidates to replace him.

Xavi Hernandez

The 44-year-old former Barcelona boss is currently without a club after leaving the Spanish giants last summer. Reds fans were sent into a frenzy on Sunday after Xavi’s wife, Nuria Cunillera, posted a picture of their son Dan wearing a United shirt on Instagram.

Xavi, who won La Liga in 2022/23 and the Spanish Super Cup in 2023 as Barca boss, has reportedly twice held talks with United about taking over the manager’s position.

Gareth Southgate

United’s co-owners Ineos, led by British billionaire Sir Jim Ratcliffe, are known to be admirers of the former England manager. Southgate left his role as Three Lions boss shortly after the Euro 2024 final, in which they were beaten 2-1 by Spain.

He also led the national team to the Euro 2020 final, where they lost on penalties to Italy, as well as the 2018 World Cup semi-finals.

Graham Potter

The 49-year-old Englishman is available as he has not found work since his short stay at Chelsea came to an end in April 2023. He gained huge plaudits for his time at Brighton, where he turned the south coast club into a force to be reckoned with playing an attractive brand of football.

Kieran McKenna

The Ipswich boss is a familiar face at Old Trafford, where he was on the coaching staff between 2016 and 2021. After landing his first managerial job at Ipswich, he took them from League One to the Premier League in just two and a half years. Their tough start to life in the top flight has seen them slip into the relegation zone, however.

Thomas Frank

The Brentford manager knows Dave Brailsford, a key figure in the Ineos team at United, and is known to be admired by Ratcliffe. The 50-year-old Dane would not be cheap to lure to Old Trafford and recently said he was “irritated” by rumours of a switch to United.

Ruud van Nistelrooy

The former United striker is a club legend and has been appointed interim manager following Ten Hag’s departure. He joined his fellow Dutchman as assistant manager at Old Trafford on a two-year contract in July.

Van Nistelrooy, who scored 150 goals for the club, was head coach at PSV Eindhoven from March 2022 until he resigned one game before the end of the 2022/23 season.

Simone Inzaghi

The 48-year-old Italian has been heavily linked with the United job. He led Inter Milan to the Serie A title last season and his side were beaten by Manchester City in the 2023 Champions League final.

Ruben Amorim

The 39-year-old Sporting Lisbon coach has won two Portuguese titles since joining them in 2020 and they are unbeaten in this year’s Primeira Liga, sitting top of the table with maximum points from nine matches.