Varun Pai
Cristiano Ronaldo agent, Jorge Mendes, tells Manchester United to appoint Sevilla boss Julen Lopetegui
According to The Athletic (Subscription Required) [h/t The Sun], Jorge Mendes, the agent of Cristiano Ronaldo, has told Manchester United to appoint Sevilla boss Julen Lopetegui as the new manager at Old Trafford.
The Red Devils sacked Ole Gunnar Solskjaer on Sunday morning but are yet to find a replacement to his throne. Michael Carrick has been appointed for the while and is likely to be in charge for the games against Villarreal and Chelsea.
PSG boss Mauricio Pochettino is apparently open to joining the club as his family still stays in England. Brendan Rodgers is another name on the list that could make the switch from Leicester City.
The Manchester-based outfit contacted the former Liverpool boss recently and are ready to fork out an £8million compensation fee to lure him out of the King Power. Zinedine Zidane and Erik Ten Hag are the other options, with the former currently out of work.
However, Jorge Mendes has another name in mind. The Portuguese super-agent wants the best for his client, Cristiano Ronaldo, and has touted Julen Lopetegui as the man to replace Solskjaer.
The Spaniard has more than a decade worth of managerial experience, despite only turning 55 this year. He has managed Rayo Vallecano, Porto, and the youth as well as the senior team of Real Madrid. In fact, he has also coached the youth setup of the Spanish national team before taking charge of the first team in 2018.
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In 2019, he joined Sevilla and won the UEFA Europa League in the following year, beating United in the semi-final. However, his only experience of managing a big club was at Madrid, and he was sacked within a couple of months at the job.
Regardless, he has shown his quality at Sevilla, and if push comes to shove, there are few better options than him in the current market.
