Erik ten Hag of Manchester United (Photo by Michael Regan/Getty Images)
Manchester United have reportedly held talks with former Barcelona manager Xavi, with intermediaries twice contacting the Spanish tactician over potentially replacing Erik ten Hag as Red Devils boss.
Man Utd chiefs have been in Barcelona recently for what they claim have been other business matters, but it seems there’s also been contact with Xavi about taking over at Old Trafford amid Ten Hag’s struggles, according to the Daily Mail.
Xavi had a mixed spell in charge of Barca, winning La Liga in 2022/23, but finishing on a bit of a low the following season as standards really dropped and the style of football left a lot to be desired.
While Xavi was a great player for much of his career, he’s yet to look fully convincing as an elite level manager, so it will be interesting to see if he truly emerges as a leading candidate for the United job.
Is Xavi the right manager to replace Erik ten Hag at Manchester United?
Some MUFC fans will surely be hoping that a few other names are taken into consideration if Ten Hag is shown the door, with Xavi not exactly looking ideally suited to taking on such a difficult job.
Many top managers have struggled badly at United in the post-Sir Alex Ferguson era, with Ten Hag the latest to look very promising as a coach until he walked through the doors at Old Trafford, just as other successful managers like Jose Mourinho and Louis van Gaal found.
Still, it looks like United would do well to make a change from Ten Hag as soon as possible after a poor start to the season, and it’s not like there are that many outstanding candidates out there at the moment.
Thomas Tuchel seemed the obvious choice for United, but he recently took the opportunity to replace Gareth Southgate as England manager, while Mauricio Pochettino also recently took over as USA boss.
