Manchester United is reportedly in negotiations with Ernesto Valverde, the former Barcelona manager, about becoming the club’s temporary manager if Mauricio Pochettino cannot be lured away from PSG.
Pochettino is ready to take over at Old Trafford immediately as Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s replacement, according to Sportsmail, although it’s unclear whether United wants the Argentine to take over.
United are still planning to recruit a temporary manager to take over from caretaker Michael Carrick before appointing a permanent manager at the end of the season.
The club have a shortlist of five candidates for the interim job and it emerged on Tuesday evening that former Barcelona coach Valverde is one of the names under consideration.
Valverde is currently out of work after leaving Barca in January 2020 and the 57-year-old Spaniard has held talks with United’s football director John Murtough.
Valverde has the advantage of having worked at one of the world’s top clubs but has no Premier League experience despite expressing an interest in coaching in England.
The only time he has worked outside of Spain was two stints at Olympiacos, and he got the Barcelona job after impressing in the second of two spells at Athletic Bilbao.
It’s believed that Valverde would only be an option for the interim role, and United have other candidates for the summer including Pochettino, Leicester’s Brendan Rodgers, and Ajax coach Erik ten Hag.
Zinedine Zidane has also been linked but it’s understood that he is reluctant to move to Old Trafford and is a more likely replacement for Pochettino at PSG.
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