Former Manchester United captains Roy Keane and Gary Neville believe that England head coach Gareth Southgate could become the new manager of the Red Devils this summer.
Erik ten Hag will allegedly keep his job as Man United boss until the end of the 2023-24 campaign, but there have been suggestions that new minority shareholder Sir Jim Ratcliffe is keen to make a change in the dug-out.
Southgate is currently being strongly linked with the position, as his contract with the Three Lions is due to expire at the end of the year.
Man United are preparing to appoint Dan Ashworth as their new sporting director, and the 53-year-old has previously worked alongside Southgate at the Football Association.
Both Keane and Neville have claimed that they can now see Southgate at Old Trafford due to the changes which are taking place behind the scenes.
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"I could see that happening (Southgate being the next United manager)," Keane said on the Stick to Football podcast.
"Well, obviously everyone's thinking he's probably going to be with England this summer if he has a good (European) Championship, thinking if they could win it. And if they don't, then maybe they're thinking you've ran your race with him.
"His connection with Dan Ashworth, who he has worked with previously. Yeah, I'm not that surprised with it."
Meanwhile, Neville added: "I never saw Gareth Southgate as a Manchester United manager, psychologically, I never saw that.
"I can see it now, now Dan Ashworth has come in. I just think, what does Erik ten Hag need to do to stay as Manchester United manager? So, for instance, is the FA Cup enough, or does he need to get top four, or top five, Champions League?
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"I think if Gareth is leaving, I think to be honest with you, you'll have seen this in tournaments, but it's never been easy.
"England will have qualifiers starting up again a couple of months after the tournament, so they'll have to have a new manager in. And Gareth will need to sort his future out, to get a club for potentially the start of next season.
"So, I think if it's done maturely, I can see how it would be brought forward in terms of Gareth. Forget Manchester United, England would need to appoint a new manager. So, they are going to have to appoint a new manager pre-tournament, probably.
"And say Gareth is going to be leaving after the tournament, unless he's just going to leave on the last day and do it quietly, I don't know."
Man United and England centre-back Harry Maguire has called for Southgate to remain as head coach of the Three Lions beyond the end of the year.
Matt Law
