Manchester United will make “every effort” to appoint Mauricio Pochettino as their next manager during a six-month charm offensive, according to ESPN FC.
The football site claim the Premier League giants regard the Tottenham boss as “the outstanding candidate” to take over from Jose Mourinho, who was sacked earlier today (Tuesday).
ESPN FC report United executive vice-chairman Woodward will lead United’s bid to “spend the next six months attempting to prise Pochettino from Tottenham”.
OPINION
The charm offensive starts from now. United know they have the rest of the season to seduce Pochettino, offer him what he doesn’t have at Spurs, where he appears to have hit a ceiling despite working absolute wonders with the club over the last four-and-a-half years, and negotiate a compensation fee with his boss Daniel Levy. Negotiating with Levy will be excruciatingly arduous, but United have the financial power to do a deal with the long-standing Tottenham chairman. Reports have suggested it could take a £40million transfer fee to prise Pochettino from Tottenham, an enormous sum but one United might have to pay to get him, given he signed an £8.5million-a-year contract in May that runs until 2023. It doesn’t have a release clause, either. Given the predicament they are in, United are in this for the long haul as they prepare to pay what it takes to land Pochettino.