Fabrizio Romano on Zidane Man United links and Ten Hag’s 'discussions' with INEOS

Originally posted on Caught Offside | By Mark Brus | Last updated 3/5/24

Manchester United don’t currently seem to be looking at managers to replace Erik ten Hag despite links with former Real Madrid boss Zinedine Zidane, according to Fabrizio Romano.

Speaking exclusively to CaughtOffside for his latest column in the Daily Briefing, Romano explained that Man Utd have not had any contacts with Zidane, while current Red Devils manager Ten Hag has held some positive initial discussions with INEOS.

Ten Hag isn’t exactly having the best season at United, with Manchester City dealing them yet another defeat at the weekend with a 3-1 win in the Manchester Derby at the Etihad Stadium.

This follows MUFC dropping out of the Champions League by finishing bottom of their group, while they’re also facing an uphill battle to get into the top four again.

Still, Ten Hag did a decent job in his first season at Old Trafford, winning the Carabao Cup final and reaching the FA Cup final, so it will be interesting to see if that’s bought the Dutch tactician more time.

Responding to the Zidane links, Romano made it clear he’s not hearing anything concrete on this story.

“We know there will be a lot of movement of managers this summer as there will be jobs opening up at Liverpool, Barcelona and Bayern Munich, but it seems we’re also getting speculation about some other clubs as well,” Romano said.

“I’m aware there have been more reports about Erik ten Hag’s future at Manchester United, with Zinedine Zidane the latest name mentioned as a candidate for that job. I must stress, though, that I’m not aware of contacts between Zidane and Manchester United so far. Nothing is concrete on that, as of now.

“Let’s see what INEOS decide to do in general in the next months after positive initial discussions with Ten Hag, but Zidane is currently not negotiating with United.”

This article first appeared on Caught Offside and was syndicated with permission.

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