Manchester United have now interviewed two other managerial candidates in addition to Ajax Amsterdam boss Erik ten Hag

Speaking on the United We Stand podcast (h/t Express), football journalist Andy Mitten revealed that Manchester United had interviewed two other managerial candidates, in addition to Ajax Amsterdam boss Erik ten Hag.

Currently led by Ralf Rangnick on an interim basis until the end of the season, United are looking to appoint a new permanent manager in the summer once the German finishes his tenure. He took over late last year after the club sacked Ole Gunnar Solskjaer following a string of poor results.

ten Hag is one of the potential options for the Red Devils job, and the Dutchman was interviewed earlier this month as the Premier League side step up their efforts to find the best successor to Solskjaer and lead the team to glory once again.

The club has not won a trophy in five years, with their last title being the UEFA Europa League that was won in 2017 in Jose Mourinho’s first season at the club. Since then, the closest they have come to winning silverware was last year, when they lost the Europa League final to Villarreal on penalties.

Stepping up the recruitment process

Given the dire situation that the English team find themselves in, their next appointment will need to be spot on to ensure success. With that in mind, United are now beginning to step up their recruitment process as football director John Murtough and technical director Darren Fletcher are said to now have interviewed a total of three candidates for the vacant managerial role.

The identities of these other managers are a secret, although it is known that ten Hag has already been interviewed and that the Ajax boss impressed senior officials with his philosophy and vision for the football club. Hopefully, the two other candidates have the know-how of managing a top club and prior experience of winning silverware on the biggest of stages.

Rangnick has done a decent job at Old Trafford since taking over, managing to bring some balance to the side and seeing them slowly creep up the Premier League table. The past few weeks have seen the team crash out of the Champions League, ending their hopes of breaking their trophy drought this term.

Managers have come and gone since the retirement of Sir Alex Ferguson, with hardly anyone lasting more than three years in Manchester. There has also been only limited success when it comes to winning trophies, in comparison to rivals Manchester City and Chelsea who have been racking up titles left and right in past years.

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ten Hag is currently one of the leading candidates to land the permanent manager job, but he is not the only name in the frame – Paris Saint Germain’s Mauricio Pochettino, Sevilla head coach Julen Lopetegui, and Spain manager Luis Enrique are also under consideration.

Pochettino is already believed to have held talks with Murtough, although there has been no follow-up since the dialogue. Clearly, United are making sure that they go through a thorough process to make sure their next appointment is perfect, and fans have good reason to be optimistic about the future.