Manchester United have been rocked by the revelation that they allegedly offered not one but two managers the chance to come to Old Trafford before settling on Ruben Amorim.
The Red Devils are poised to roll out the welcome mat for Amorim on Monday, but not before they flirted with a host of other top bosses over the summer, due to doubts over Erik ten Hag‘s disappointing tenure. It has been widely reported that Thomas Tuchel, now steering the ship for England, was in the frame to take over at Old Trafford.
He even chatted with British billionaire Sir Jim Ratcliffe about the job after his stint with Bayern Munich ended., but nothing came of it as he rejected the opportunity and United opted to stick with Ten Hag a bit longer by triggering a one-year extension on his contract.
However, Ten Hag’s time was cut short when he got the boot last month after a dismal start to the Premier League season – United’s worst on record. It has been claimed that former Brighton and Hove Albion boss Roberto De Zerbi, currently enjoying his inaugural season with Marseille, was another name tipped to step into Ten Hag’s shoes.
And now French publication L’Equipe has reported that the Italian coach showcased his loyalty to his team by projecting an image of a contract offer from United onto a screen for all his players to see ahead of their season opener – suggesting Amorim wasn’t even their second choice for the job, but the third pick.
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De Zerbi is reported to have told his players: “This is where I could have been, but I put my passion before money. I came to Marseille for the passion,” reports the Mirror.
Renowned football agent Pini Zahavi known for his say in many high-profile player’s careers, such as Christopher Nkunku and Robert Lewandowski has claimed that ex-Chelsea boss Tuchel also passed up the chance to take over at Old Trafford this summer.
“If I were Thomas, I would have gone to Manchester United. He had the opportunity. Everything was prepared, the deal was basically done,” Zahavi revealed to Die Welt.
“Thomas has a spark of genius in him,” he went on to say. “But in today’s football you have to be wise and a diplomat. He will have to learn that.”
Whatever doubts United may have had initially about Amorim being the man to take over the job of restoring the fallen giants to the top of British football, that is the challenge the former Sporting CF boss now must take on.