ZINE LIVES Sir Jim Ratcliffe ‘dreams of hiring Zinedine Zidane as next Man Utd manager’ as pressure heats up on Erik ten Hag

Relationship between Ten Hag and a key player has broken down

Posted Wednesday, February 28, 2024 by Thesun.co.uk

SIR JIM RATCLIFFE reportedly dreams of hiring Zinedine Zidane as the next manager of Manchester United.

The British billionaire has already made plenty of changes behind the scenes after his minority takeover, hiring Omar Berrada as CEO while pursuing Dan Ashworth as sporting director.

ZINE LIVES Sir Jim Ratcliffe ‘dreams of hiring Zinedine Zidane as next Man Utd manager’ as pressure heats up on Erik ten Hag
Man Utd are eyeing Zinedine Zidane as their new boss Credit: Getty

And the pressure is now building on Erik ten Hag following United's shock 2-1 home defeat to Fulham on Saturday.

The Dutchman is now eight points off fourth, having already crashed out of the Champions League at the group stage.

And Foot Mercato claims Ratcliffe is now eyeing an audacious move for Zidane as United's next manager.

The 51-year-old lit up the pitch as a player for clubs like Juventus and Real Madrid before becoming the latter's boss in 2016.

Zidane ended up leading Los Blancos to THREE consecutive Champions League victories before stepping down in 2018.

Zidane, who also won LaLiga in 2017, then returned to the Bernabeu dugout in March 2019 and captured a second title a year later.

He is yet to manage another side after departing Real in 2021.

But Ratcliffe hopes he can lure Zidane back to the beautiful game by putting him in charge of United's revolution.

Ratcliffe's dream move comes after SunSport exclusively revealed that Ten Hag's relationship with star United player Marcus Rashford is at breaking point.

The pair are barely on speaking terms following the striker's Belfast bender.

And staff fear the relationship is beyond repair, piling more heat on Ten Hag's position.

Rashford only signed a new five-year, £300,000-a-week contract last summer.

However, fellow forward Antony is in the firing line after failing to hit the heights at Old Trafford.

He is yet to score or assist in the Premier League this term, and United could cut their losses on the £86m winger should they receive a suitable bid.