Exclusive: Fabrizio Romano’s update on Man United’s leading candidate to replace Erik ten Hag

Transfer news expert Fabrizio Romano has provided an update on the situation at Manchester United, with Thomas Tuchel seemingly no longer in the running for the job despite at one point looking like the favourite to replace Erik ten Hag.

Speaking exclusively to CaughtOffside for his latest Daily Briefing column, Romano explained that Man Utd had direct talks with Tuchel over the possibility of taking over at Old Trafford, but the German tactician has now decided to take a break for the upcoming season.

Tuchel only recently left Bayern Munich after a disappointing season at the Allianz Arena, but in general he’s had a very strong coaching career that has seen him win a number of major honours, most notably the Champions League during his time in charge of Chelsea.

One imagines Tuchel could have done a good job at United, though it seems they still haven’t fully decided what to do about Ten Hag, with the Dutch tactician still in charge at the time of writing, despite the feeling for so long being that he would surely be leaving the Red Devils after the FA Cup final.

Tuchel was leading Man United candidate, says Romano

Discussing the Tuchel situation, Romano said: “There’s been a big update on the Manchester United manager situation as my understanding now is that Thomas Tuchel and Man United are not expected to reach an agreement for the former Bayern Munich manager to become the new manager at Old Trafford. I can confirm Christian Falk’s report here that Tuchel had a meeting with Man Utd, they had many contacts and Tuchel was always considered the favourite candidate in case United decided to part ways with Erik ten Hag.

“A decision on Ten Hag has not been made yet, so what’s going on? As I’ve said recently, Man United are having meetings with several agents and representatives of managers to make sure they assess all the options on the market before making a decision on a new manager, or on keeping Ten Hag.

“Tuchel was the favourite of these options because he had direct conversations with Manchester United, and direct contact with Sir Jim Ratcliffe, but my understanding now is that Tuchel wants to take a break from football this summer. Tuchel doesn’t want to take any job for now, so his decision is to leave the conversations. Tuchel wants to take a break, he had talks with Man United but he’s currently planning to relax and wait for new opportunities in the future, but for sure, Tuchel was the closest to getting the job in case they considered a change.

“Let’s see what will happen, if Man United will try to make one last effort or not, or if they decide to continue with Ten Hag or consider someone else for the job.”