UNITED GO FOR POCH
Spurs manager is top target as Mourinho gets the axe
MANCHESTER UNITED are ready to break the bank to prise No1 target Mauricio Pochettino away from White Hart Lane in the summer.
The Red Devils were last night closing in on the appointment of former striker Ole Gunnar Solskjaer as caretaker manager until the end of the season after Jose Mourinho was sacked yesterday morning.
Solskjaer, 45, has been managing Molde in Norway’s top flight but looks set to hook up with former coach Mike Phelan and current assistant Michael Carrick as United look for a sticking-plaster solution.
But, longer term, United believe Pochettino, left, is the perfect fit for the club and are determined to land his signature, even if it means shelling out a king’s ransom to buy him out of a deal that runs until 2023.
The Tottenham boss, who could cost United upwards of £25million to land, stayed tight-lipped yesterday when asked about the Old Trafford hotseat.
“It’s not in my hands how to manage all of these rumours,” he said. “I’m not creating rumours, I am here. What is going to happen in the summer? What is going to happen tomorrow? No one knows.”
Solskjaer is understood to be in discussions with United over a temporary deal to steer the club through the remainder of this campaign. If they can agree terms, it will give United some breathing space and time to appoint a director of football in a shake-up of the management structure at the club.
United confirmed the news they were parting company with Mourinho in a statement after executive vice-chairman Ed Woodward told the Portuguese he was no longer needed.
Mourinho, who signed a new deal last January, is understood to have walked away with £15m after his two and a half years in charge. But he leaves the club in trouble, 11 points behind fourth spot, 19 points behind leaders Liverpool and with tattered relationships behind him.
Paul Pogba risked the ire of United fans yesterday by posting a cheeky, smiling image less than
an hour after Mourinho was sacked with the request ‘Caption This’.
Suggestions it was part of a pre-planned promotional campaign for an equipment sponsor cut little ice, with former United full-back Gary Neville among those to express disapproval.
Neville also threw his weight behind the pursuit of Pochettino, describing him as the perfect fit for a club who lost sight of their beliefs under Mourinho.
“I said last season Pochettino should be the next manager,” said Neville. “You look at his belief in youth at Southampton and Spurs, how he carries himself in public and private. For me, he feels the most ideal candidate.
“United have tried managers who have won European Cups, leagues and have had solid grounding in the Premier League. Three key principles of this club are promotion of youth, attractive football and winning football.
“If you’re [Spurs chairman] Daniel Levy, you grab Pochettino and hold on for dear life as you move into a new stadium.” If, as expected, Solskjaer and Phelan are announced as the interim management team, it will confirm the increasing influence of Sir Alex Ferguson’s voice, with the former manager a big supporter of both men.
Solskjaer, whose strike won the 1999 Champions League final, had a stint in charge of United’s reserves from 2008 to 2011 and a brief spell in charge at Cardiff in 2014, which ended in the club’s relegation from the top flight.