Man Utd are ‘interested’ in Liverpool manager target with Ratcliffe ‘not sold’ on Ten Hag and made ‘Surprise’ Sack decision

Man Utd are ‘interested’ in Liverpool manager target with Ratcliffe ‘not sold’ on Ten Hag and made ‘Surprise’ Sack decision

Erik ten Hag still has a lot of work on his hands if he wants to remain as Man Utd manager next season with Sir Jim Ratcliffe still ‘not completely sold’ on the Dutchman, according to reports.

Ten Hag had a positive first season at Old Trafford with the Dutchman guiding the Red Devils to an FA Cup final, League Cup glory and a top-four finish in the Premier League.

However, the first half of this campaign was poor with the Red Devils exiting the Champions League at the group stage, knocked out of the League Cup in the last-16 and showing inconsistent form in the Premier League.

Man Utd won six of their last seven matches in all competitions to put a rocky December behind them but their 2-1 defeat to Fulham over the weekend has alarm bells ringing again.

The Red Devils had moved into contention to finish in the top four but Aston Villa’s 4-2 victory over Nottingham Forest means Man Utd are now eight points off Unai Emery’s fourth-placed side.

Ten Hag claimed after the match that his Man Utd outfit “deserved” to beat Fulham and former Tottenham midfielder Jamie O’Hara called his views “delusional”.

O’Hara said on talkSPORT: “Have you ever heard someone more delusional? When a manager is delusional like Ten Hag is sounding now, it is time to move him on.

“Come out and be honest, your team were dreadful. Every player through the whole 90 minutes.

“Eighth home defeat this season. ‘The team showed character to grab the equaliser.’ You winding me up?”

Man Utd legend Gary Neville reckons Sir Jim Ratcliffe and his team have “come to a conclusion already” over whether they will keep Ten Hag on after this season.

And the Manchester Evening News now claim that Ten Hag’s future at Old Trafford ‘remains uncertain’ with the new hierarchy ‘understood to have analysed potential replacements for Ten Hag should they decide a change of manager is required in the coming months’.

One of the top targets to replace Jurgen Klopp at Liverpool, Brighton boss Roberto de Zerbi, is ‘understood to be of interest’ to Man Utd with a source claiming that Ratcliffe is ‘not completely sold’ on Ten Hag.

The report adds that ‘figures at Man Utd’ still ‘maintain the club can still enjoy a successful season should they win the FA Cup and finish in the top four’.