Manchester United would have loved to appoint Julian Nagelsmann as head coach this summer, but have been forced to accept that he would not want to leave Bayern.
United’s search for a new manager continues, with Ralf Rangnick nearing the end of his stint as interim manager, although they do not look close to finding his successor.
Ajax’s Erik ten Hag and PSG manager Mauricio Pochettino remain the leading candidates, while Julen Lopetegui and Luis Enrique are still in the running.
It would have been Nagelsmann ahead of all of them, though, if the Red devils thought they could attract the 34-year-old away from Bayern.
A source told Sky Sports: ‘In an ideal world, Julian Nagelsmann would walk into the club this summer.’ But, he only joined Bayern last year and would have no interest in leaving Bavaria for an unstable club like United.
The Sky Sports claim that Nagelsmann may end up in the Premier League after a stint at Bayern, but replacing Guardiola at Manchester City or Jurgen Klopp at Liverpool would be more likely options.
Naglesmann was linked with United back in 2020 as a replacement for Ole Gunnar Solskjaer, while he also has a relationship with Rangnick having both worked at RB Leipzig.
There had been some hope that Thomas Tuchel would emerge as a possible option for United, given the unprecedented circumstances they are going through due to sanctions placed on owner Abramovich.
However, the German seems to have no interest in abandoning ship at Stamford Bridge and, even with the instability caused by the imminent change in ownership, Chelsea remain a more reliable prospect than United.
Ten Hag is the bookmakers’ favourite ahead of Pochettino, with both manager’s seeing their teams suffer surprise defeats at the last 16 stage of the UEFA Champions League, but PSG’s exit at the hands of Real Madrid seems more damaging to Pochettino than Ajax’s loss to Benfica was to Ten Hag.
