Graham Potter ‘lined up’ to replace Erik ten Hag at Manchester United | OneFootball

Highlights

Graham Potter is reportedly being lined up to replace Erik ten Hag at Manchester United by incoming investor Sir Jim Ratcliffe, whose imminent £1.25bn deal is expected to see him take charge of football operations at Old Trafford.

This is according to The Sun’s Neil Custis, who understands that Ratcliffe has already met with former Chelsea manager Potter. The 48-year-old English coach was sacked by the Blues in April 2023 after less than seven months in charge of the west London outfit.

Ten Hag under pressure at Man Utd

Dutch coach experiencing difficult second season

Ten Hag, 53, enjoyed a decent first season with Man United, winning the League Cup with a 2-0 victory over Newcastle United in February 2023 - the Red Devils’ first trophy since 2017. The Dutchman, who cemented his status as one of Europe’s most exciting young coaches during his five years with Ajax, also guided Man Utd to a third place finish in the Premier League table, as well as a spot in the FA Cup final.

However, things are unravelling for Ten Hag during his second season at the Theatre of Dreams. Man Utd find themselves sixth in the Premier League table, 10 points behind leaders Liverpool, and finished rock bottom of their Champions League group behind Bayern Munich, Copenhagen and Galatasaray.

As well as crashing out of Europe completely, United were also eliminated from the League Cup following a 3-0 home defeat to Newcastle on November 1. Ten Hag’s side have won just one of their previous five fixtures in all competitions and suffered one of their worst defeats of the post-Sir Alex Ferguson era on December 9: an embarrassing 3-0 loss at home to Bournemouth.

With Liverpool (H), West Ham (A), Aston Villa (H), and Nottingham Forest (A) all to play before the end of the year, pundits and fans alike are beginning to fear for Ten Hag’s future at the club. Reports that Ratcliffe has met with Potter and favours him as the new manager in the event that he sacks Ten Hag are unlikely to improve the current United boss’s confidence levels.

Potter's managerial record

An unconventional career path to the top

Potter has been out of work since his chastening experience at Chelsea but is unlikely to receive a bigger offer than Manchester United. For all of their problems - both on and off the field - they remain one of the biggest names in world football and would be an attractive option for most coaches.

The Solihull-born tactician, who played at left-back during a career that saw him represent the likes of Birmingham City and York City in the 1990s and early 2000s, made his name with Swedish side Ostersunds FK where he spent seven years before landing the Swansea City job in 2018.

He further enhanced his burgeoning reputation with a successful three-year stint at Brighton, before succeeding Thomas Tuchel at Chelsea in September 2022. Despite losing 11 of his 31 games in charge, the general consensus is that most managers would have struggled in Potter’s situation under co-controlling owners Todd Boehly and Behdad Eghbali.

It doesn’t appear that Potter’s difficult spell at Chelsea has negatively affected his reputation in the eyes of Ratcliffe, who may feel that a change of manager is necessary at Old Trafford unless performances and results quickly improve. The petrochemical billionaire, who reportedly wanted to bring Potter to French side Nice, will take a 25% stake in Man Utd once his deal is finalised and immediately become arguably the most important person at the football club.