Manchester United are now looking at Lille manager Paulo Fonseca as Erik ten Hag’s successor | OneFootball

Manchester United produced yet another unconvincing display but still ended up 2-0 victors in their final Premier League game of the season against Brighton and Hove Albion on Sunday.

It was only their 18th win of the season and the club finished eighth, their lowest-ever in the competition, and meant the Red Devils missed out on Europe altogether through their league placing.

It has been a dismal campaign with much of the blame being put on manager Erik ten Hag, who tweaked the team’s style into an unsustainable chaos ball which never looked like working.

The Dutchman is under enormous pressure and while the official stance from INEOS is that they are yet to take the final decision, next week’s FA Cup final is the last chance for the former Ajax coach to prove to the new co-owners that he is the right man for the job moving forward.

EtH’s uncertain future

Should the game end in defeat, INEOS might be forced to look elsewhere with the likes of Thomas Tuchel, Graham Potter and Gareth Southgate among the favourites to take over from Ten Hag.

Calciomercato have added a brand new name into the mix: Paulo Fonseca, currently manager of LOSC Lille, who finished fourth in Ligue 1 and have the chance to qualify for Champions League next season.

In his two seasons in charge of Les Dogues, the club finished fifth and fourth, showing remarkable consistency throughout the campaign.

The Portuguese has enjoyed success in his previous spells at Shakhtar Donetsk and Braga and experience of managing big clubs like AS Roma and Porto. His achievements in France have meant quite a few clubs are chasing his signature ahead of the summer window.

AC Milan are said to be frontrunners while in the Premier League, West Ham United had also looked at the 51-year-old, who is known for his possession-based approach to the game.

Lille had the second-most possession in the league after only Paris Saint-Germain despite a vastly inferior squad to many teams. This has been a hallmark throughout his managerial stint.

Fonseca is a new target

Interestingly, with Tuchel not staying on at Bayern Munich despite numerous discussions recently, the Bavarian giants are also keeping their eye on the Lille boss.

“The Portuguese coach first wants to secure a pass for the next Champions League with Lille and then will communicate to the Breton club his desire not to renew the contract expiring in July.

“For days the former Roma player has been the great candidate to take Stefano Pioli’s place on the Milan bench but according to Sky he would also be on the list of Bayern Munich and Manchester United,” the report stated.

INEOS have said in the past that their search is not limited to serial winners and they are looking at building a project. That could yet work out for Fonseca.

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