ADVERTISEMENTS

Man Utd reportedly could have gotten Pochettino instead of Rangnick had two conditions been met

Monday saw the official appointment of Ralf Rangnick as Man United's interim boss, with the iconic German coach agreeing to join the Red Devils to replace Ole Gunnar Solskjaer on a short-term basis.

However, it was no secret that the Premier League giants were heavily interested in PSG head coach Mauricio Pochettino. In fact, given that Rangnick has only been hired on a six-month basis before being promoted to an advisory role next summer, many predict Man United will resume their pursuit of the Argentine once the season ends.

The perception was that PSG were not willing to let the Argentine go, hence why the English heavyweights missed out on his services immediately.  However, according to French publication Telefoot, this is not the case.

They claim the Ligue 1 giants were willing to let Pochettino go to Old Trafford had two conditions been met. The first is financial as Les Parisiens demanded his contract be bought out, totaling to $23M for a deal that runs until 2023.

Had Man United coughed up that some, then PSG would have moved on to their second condition and that was securing his replacement: Zinedine Zidane. The French icon, who is a free agent after leaving Real Madrid last summer, is highly admired by the Parc des Princes board and thus would have been approached as the ideal replacement for Pochettino.

However, PSG never ended up reaching out to Zizou as the Red Devils failed to make an official approach for the former Tottenham tactician. Instead, Rangnick was brought in on an interim role, with next weekend's Premier League clash with Crystal Palace being earmarked as the German's debut game – Thursday's showdown with Arsenal could come too soon due to COVID-19 restrictions and visa issues.

Given that Mauricio Pochettino has flirted with a move to the Theatre of Dreams before, expect rumors linking him with the English giants to return this summer. The Argentine and Ajax coach Erik ten Hag are the preferred candidates for the job once Rangnick completes his six-month spell and vacates the dugout for a role higher up.

You might also like