Reports | Manchester United holds talk with Ernesto Valverde over interim position
According to Goal, Manchester United have held talks with Ernesto Valverde over the interim manager position until the end of the season after seeing a formal enquiry for Mauricio Pochettino pegged back. Paris Saint-Germain are not prepared to let the Argentine go in the middle of the season.
Manchester United have endured a turbulent campaign so far as they lie ninth in the league standings and trail current leaders Chelsea by 12 points. The English giants have only won one of their last seven matches in the Premier League and humiliating defeats against Liverpool, Manchester City, and Watford sealed Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s fate. The Norwegian was sacked on Sunday morning as the club looks to expand their search on identifying the right manager on a permanent basis.
Michael Carrick was put in charge of the club on a temporary basis as they look to navigate their way through a run of difficult fixtures. However, according to Goal, the English club have held preliminary talks with former Barcelona manager Ernesto Valverde on taking over the club on an interim basis after PSG refused to let go of Mauricio Pochettino. Valverde, who left Barcelona in 2020 after winning 2 La Liga titles, is the preferred choice of the United board to take over until the remainder of the season.
United are continuing to pursue their quest of hiring an interim manager before finding someone suitable to take over permanently and it is understood that Pochettino is the preferred choice to take over permanently. But while the former Tottenham coach is interested, the Red Devils' first enquiry was pegged back as the Argentine is under contract until 2023. The club have thus focused on recruiting Valverde with executive vice-chairman Ed Woodward is involved alongside football director John Murtogh and technical director Darren Fletcher.