Man Utd told to target manager ‘better’ than both Erik ten Hag and Mauricio Pochettino

Erik ten Hag has been heavily linked with Manchester United in recent months, with rumours picking up this week after reports claimed an interview had taken place between the club and the Dutchman. However, talkSPORT pundit and former Premier League star Darren Bent has offered a suggestion for a potential manager who he believes is better than the Ajax boss in Roberto Mancini.

United have been without a permanent manager since November following Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s sacking after a spate of poor results. Ralf Rangnick came in to replace him, although his contract expires in the summer as he was only brought in on an interim basis.

The German will go onto the technical staff following his run of directorial roles at RB Leipzig and Lokomotiv Moscow. And Ten Hag has been touted as the frontrunner by bookies and pundits alike to replace Rangnick.

However, Bent believes the club should move for Italy manager Mancini – who won the Premier League with arch-rivals Manchester City in 2012 – citing he ‘knows the league’. “He is a winner,” Bent told talkSPORT.

“He is someone who has won the Premier League so he has the experience, he’s won the Euros, even though I know it’s not ended well with the North Macedonia result. But if United throw a ransom, why not? Manchester United are the biggest club in the world. I get it, it would be a big deal in winning Manchester City their first Premier League title to then go to United, but we’ve seen managers [move to rivals] before.

“In these types of circumstances, there’s no jobs for him, Manchester United are there and they just go ‘You know what, what do you think?’. I think he is better than [Erik] ten Hag, and certainly Mauricio Pochettino.

“He has proved he can do it in this country, I think that is vital. He has got the Premier League experience – I know he ended up leaving, but then he won a massive trophy with Italy in the Euros, so you cannot question his pedigree in winning things.”