Will Mauricio Pochettino and Harry Kane finally form a dream team at Man Utd?
United could face a battle from Real Madrid for the current PSG head coach
The Mauricio Pochettino and Harry Kane “to Manchester United” rumours have filled transfer columns for a number of years now – and the duo are once again being linked with big moves to Old Trafford.
Ex-Tottenham boss Pochettino, who is now at Paris Saint-Germain, was previously on Man Utd’s radar as a candidate to replace former managers Jose Mourinho and Ole Gunnar Solskjaer. Meanwhile, Spurs and England striker Kane has also regularly been a target to bolster the Red Devils’s frontline.
Solskjaer’s replacement, Ralf Rangnick, was appointed on an interim basis in late November and is set to remain in charge until the end of the season. In what could be a “huge summer” for the club, United are expected to appoint a new manager and are beginning to “step up their search”, The Telegraph said.
The two frontrunners
Pochettino is “not the only candidate under consideration” for the United job, but it’s believed that the Argentine is the “preferred choice” for a number of players who “admire his coaching and man-management style”.
The other frontrunner is Ajax manager Erik ten Hag, who is “the sexy choice, the popular one and the one that will generate the most fuss”, said Melissa Reddy in The Independent. But while Pochettino has “his flaws” and “we know him”, United have twice before come close to appointing the 49-year-old and have “regretted not doing so both times”.
Former United and England striker Teddy Sheringham believes Pochettino is the “perfect fit” for the Red Devils and could bring back the good times to the Theatre of Dreams, Goal reported. “He would be the man for me, he would be the number one choice.”
Real set to ‘battle’ United for Poch
Pochettino is expected to leave PSG at the end of the season and United will face a “battle” for his signature from Real Madrid, the Daily Mail reported.
Real and Tottenham both failed to lure Pochettino away from Paris last summer because the French club were “unwilling to let the Argentine leave”. However, pressure is growing on current Real boss Carlo Ancelotti and the Spanish club’s president, Florentino Perez, is “set to revive his interest” in Pochettino.
A significant statement
If Pochettino joins United this summer he’ll have to “oversee a huge rebuild” at Old Trafford, the Manchester Evening News said. United could make as many as four new signings – including additions in attack. Signing an “elite-level” striker is “never easy”, but if Pochettino is appointed then United could have “the upper hand on other sides looking to sign a goalscorer”.
A move for Tottenham striker Kane is a possibility, especially if Pochettino is appointed as manager, ESPN said. But signing the 28-year-old “will cost at least £100m” and he would “command the same kind of wages” as David de Gea, the club’s second-highest earner who is on £350,000-a-week.
England captain Kane looked destined for a move to Manchester City last year and his future is “already expected to be a topic of debate” once more towards the end of this campaign, The Telegraph said. If Kane and Pochettino end up at United it would “clearly be regarded as a coup and a significant statement”.
