Wayne Rooney, a Manchester United legend, declared on Monday Night Football that he prefers Mauricio Pochettino to Erik Ten Hag as the new United manager, citing Pochettino's Premier League experience as the difference.
When Manchester United fired Ole Gunnar Solskjaer in November 2021, the club chose to hire Ralf Rangnick as an interim head coach rather than immediately choose a permanent replacement.
As a result, there's been a lot of conjecture regarding who they'll choose on a permanent basis since then.
Rangnick will have a say in who succeeds him as a consultant, and he said in December, "Maybe if they ask my opinion and everything goes well and we develop the team, I might even make the same recommendation to the board that I made twice at Leipzig when I recommended it might be a good idea to keep working with me for one year."
However, he has now reversed that statement, claiming it was made in jest, and two frontrunners for Solskjaer's former post have emerged: Erik Ten Hag and Mauricio Pochettino.
Ten Hag is the current head coach of Dutch champions Ajax, whereas Pochettino is the current manager of Paris Saint-Germain.
Pochettino is expected to leave PSG at the conclusion of the season, and when asked about the United manager's post on Sky Sports, Rooney claimed he would prefer the Argentine maestro.
"I think Pochettino has done it in the Premier League, he knows the Premier League," he stated, explaining his decision. He brought a number of young players through at Tottenham as well as Southampton.
"If I had to choose between Pochettino and Ten Hag, I'd go with Pochettino and give him time." Managers now want more time to come in and lay out their strategy for the club and the team."