Gareth Southgate has described links between him and Manchester United as a “complete irrelevance” with his sole focus being the European Championship this summer in Germany, but did not fully rule out a return to club football in the future.
In an interview with ITV News, the England manager was asked about him being one of the bookmakers’ favourites to take over from Erik ten Hag at Old Trafford. “I’m not a big gambling man, but bookies can make their odds. It’s not a conversation that’s been had with me,” he replied.
Southgate has been strongly linked with the United job since it emerged the club was actively pursuing Dan Ashworth to be the new sporting director at Old Trafford.
Ashworth, currently on gardening leave with Newcastle as the two clubs have been unable to agree a compensation package, has previously worked with Southgate in the England national set-up as a technical director. When Southgate was made manager of the Three Lions, following his work for the U21 side, Ashworth described him as the “outstanding candidate” for the role.
It appears to be a sentiment shared by INEOS – the new leaders of the football department at Old Trafford following Sir Jim Ratcliffe’s ratification as co-owner in February – who have made Ashworth a key part of their vision for transforming United.
The INEOS Sport team is headed by Sir Dave Brailsford, who has been conducting a comprehensive audit of the club in a bid to streamline and improve the sporting operation. Brailsford is a close friend and colleague of Ashworth who describes the INEOS Director as the “best in the world” at what he does.
Brailsford also holds a long-term connections with Southgate having worked as an advisor with the FA, with the England manager even being invited to his 60th birthday in March.
The links between all three man are, therefore, obvious; the type the rumour mill of football will always seek to play on if given the opportunity to do so. And United’s performances on the pitch this year have given ample ammunition for this to happen.
At the beginning of the year, Ten Hag’s position at Old Trafford was the strongest of any manager since Sir Alex Ferguson. He had guided the club back into the Champions League with a comfortable 3rd place finish in his debut season in English football. He had delivered the first trophy in six years with a Carabao Cup triumph. He’d even appeared to have successfully healed the wounds between the players and fans inflicted during the painful 2021/22 season.
In return, the club had fully backed the Dutchman, committing to another summer of huge spending at his behest. Andre Onana, Mason Mount and Rasmus Hojlund were all signed for large fees while United spent the entire summer chasing Sofyan Amrabat to reunite the Moroccan with Ten Hag in a costly loan deal. United officials were more than happy to be guided by their manager.
In short, he was the Manchester United manager for the present and the future. But, nine months on, it feels almost a foregone conclusion he is a relic of the past; a dead man walking who will not be in charge beyond this month.
8th in the Premier League with a goal difference of -4 and fourteen losses. The most goals conceded in a season since 1971. A calamitous early exit from both the Champions League and the Carabao Cup. A string of performances which border on a team in the bottom three rather than hoping to be in the top four.
It’s been a truly awful season.
The prospect, however remote, of a successful FA Cup campaign by beating Manchester City in the final on May 25 is this year’s only saving grace. An embarrassing defeat is the far more likely result, however.
INEOS have refused to provide a definitive answer on Ten Hag’s long-term future at the club, instead choosing to make a decision once the season has finished. This lack of clarity off the pitch has undoubtedly produced a negative effect on the pitch, with United’s form absolutely torpedoing over the final few months of an abysmal year.
This does not exculpate Ten Hag of his role in these woes, with the Dutchman’s bizarre system – a completely contradictory high-press, low bock structure – as much of a contributing factor as the unrelenting injury list which has besieged his squad, but he has been forced to manage an almost unmanageable situation at times.
Nonetheless, an historically poor season for United will always result in the rumour mill going into overdrive on the manager not being long for this world. When you couple that with EURO 2024 being potentially Southgate’s last tournament, and his long-standing ties to two executive heavyweights (or soon to be in the case of Ashworth) at Old Trafford, you’re left with an easy narrative for the rumour mill and bookies to push.
It’s not a narrative Southgate is remotely interested in, however.
The England manager is adamant his only focus at present is having “as successful a tournament with England as possible”. Everything else outside of that, including links to Old Trafford, are described as a “complete irrelevance” to him.
When the interviewer questioned if he would rule out a return to club football further down the line, Southgate reiterated where his attention lies. “If I start talking about that, then I’m already distracted from what I’m doing. So I think the country would expect that my focus is on England, and rightly so,” he replied.
Perhaps most interestingly was Southgate’s response that he has had no “conversation” with United officials over the prospect of joining the club. You would expect the number one favourite for the role to have had some level of dialogue with his prospective new employers and Southgate is renowned for his honest approach.
Whether the links between England’s manager and England’s biggest club are genuine or simply the product of the rumour mill putting two and two together remains to be seen, but there feels little doubt there will be a vacant managerial position at Old Trafford come the end of the season should Southgate be interested in the job.
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