'This is how it starts, Duncan Castles says that Ed Woodward 'likes' Mauricio Pochettino' may not be the opening line of LCD Soundsytem's 'All My Friends', but half of it is...the first half, obviously.
The second half is the reason for this report, as yes, journalist Duncan Castles has indeed begun to link Mauricio Pochettino to the Manchester United job following his recent Tottenham Hotspur dismissal.
During the journalist's recent appearance on the Transfer Window Podcast, he insisted that Man Utd executive vice-chairman (no, we don't know how he managed to get that job either) 'likes' Mauricio Pochettino, and already put out feelers to the ex-Tottenham manager:
“We know that Ed Woodward likes Pochettino and has done work earlier this season on the prospect of Pochettino coming to the club.
“The question I think is whether Pochettino is ready to do that now, the guidance from people around him has been that he’d prefer to take a sabbatical and wait until the summer.
Castles was also insistent that, while Man Utd may very like Pochettino, it's not clear if that feeling is mutual, as the Argentine manager is one of the most in-demand managers in Europe:
“Also whether he’s prepared to go for the Manchester United job over other opportunities that will inevitably present themselves over the coming months and over the summer.”
“He’s now regarded as a premium managerial candidate and top clubs will want to take him, so eventually an opportunity at a club that has less problems than United will come his way.”
The rumours (yes, at the moment they are just rumours, so calm down Man Utd fans) come in the wake of a disappointing week for current manager Ole Gunnar Solskjaer. The Red Devils legend oversaw two damaging results last week - a draw with Aston Villa and a defeat to Astana - leaving his position at the club in doubt.
Solskjaer himself, according to other reports, believes he may just have two games to save his job (Tottenham and Man City, yikes) to save his job, as the spectre of Poch looms large.
Source : 90min