Graham Potter is an option for Man Utd job if Erik ten Hag gets the sack
Sir Jim Ratcliffe has reportedly sounded out Graham Potter over succeeding Erik ten Hag as Manchester United boss amid an alarming new report that claimed the Dutchman was now very much on borrowed time at Old Trafford.
The Red Devils are in the midst of a staggeringly-poor season, having suffered an almight drop-off from the 2022/23 campaign – Ten Hag’s first in charge – where Manchester United won the Carabao Cup, reached the FA Cup final and finished third in the Premier League.
However, any dreams the club may have had of further closing that gap on Manchester City have rapidly been extinguished with the club enduring a nightmare run of form that has seen them suffer their worst start to a season since 1930.
Indeed, the 14 defeats they have suffered in their 28 matches to date has ramped the pressure up on Ten Hag, who is now among the favourites to become the next Premier League manager to lose their job.
And while there appears some sympathy for Ten Hag, who has had to deal with a number of big issues behind the scenes – most notably a fall-out with £73m star Jadon Sancho, as well as a long-running takeover saga which is still not officially resolved – it seems time may not be on the Dutchman’s side.
And having failed to get a tune out of United’s expensively-assembled squad, rumours have gathered pace in recent weeks, especially in light of their embarrassing Champions League campaign, that the axe may soon fall on Ten Hag.
To that end, it was recently claimed Ten Hag was ‘dying’ at Old Trafford with some observers explaining why his situation has been made much worse by the British media.
Ratcliffe ‘ready to sack Ten Hag’ as next Man Utd boss is named
Now ESPN claims incoming new investor Ratcliffe is strongly considering the dismissal of Ten Hag as his first major act in charge.
They claim the British billionaire is fed up of seeing the club lurch from one crisis to another this season and feels it may be too far gone for Ten Hag to turn the tide around.
And Ratcliffe may well have decided enough is enough having witnessed the Red Devils turn in a now all-too-familiar lethargic display as they were beaten 2-1 by Nottingham Forest at the City Ground in their last game of 2023.
The article claims that Ratcliffe, who also owns French club Nice, has already earmarked former Chelsea boss Potter as his No 1 target to replace the Dutchman.
They claim that Ratcliffe and Potter held talks back in the summer to discuss a potential role for the Englishman at Nice and just a matter of months after the axe had fallen on the 48-year-old at Chelsea.
At the time, Potter turned it down on the basis that he was willing to wait for another chance to manage in the Premier League.
However, the former Brighton boss is said to have hugely-impressed Ratcliffe – and the British billionare has since sounded him out again, this time over the prospect of taking arguably the biggest job of them all, at Manchester United.
Ten Hag sack: Ratcliffe ready to change Man Utd managers
In those talks, it’s believed Ratcliffe wanted to sound out both Potter’s willingness to take on such a role, but also how he would bring out the best in United’s under-performing players.
Ratcliffe has, of course, already held talks with Ten Hag over plans for the future at United, where it was made clear an immediate improvement was needed.
Following those talks, there was an understanding that Ten Hag would be given until at least the end of the season before a decision was reached over his possible removal as manager.
However, ESPN now claims that Ratcliffe is now willing to bring forward that decision with an instant change of manager now being given serious thought.
The possibility of changing manager has also reportedly been greenlighted by Sir Dave Brailsford, who has taken on a sporting director role with INEOS. The two men have been in attendance at United’s last two matches and the defeat at Forest could now well prove the final straw.
After the match, Ten Hag appeared to offer Ratcliffe something of an apology for their inept display, suggesting results had been impacted by the number of injuries his side were currently suffering with.
“[INEOS] know me and they know when I have a squad what is available then the results will be there,” Ten Hag vowed.
“We already proved against the top teams we can go head-to-head. So I am convinced and have a strong belief we get progress in this team, that we get more consistency in the moment.
“This is part of a project. We were overperforming last year, this year so far we are underperforming. We have to do better, we have to step up and I have to lead that process.”
Were he to leave now, Ten Hag would depart Old Trafford with 53 wins from his 90 games in charge, giving him a surprisingly-high win percentage rate of 58.89%.
Potter, by contrast, has a win percentage rate of 31.11% at Brighton and 38.71% while in charge at Chelsea.
