Wayne Rooney reveals he would pick Mauricio Pochettino as next Man Utd manager

Rooney has made no secret of his desire to land the Old Trafford job one day
Rooney has made no secret of his desire to land the Old Trafford job one day / Matthew Lewis/GettyImages
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Manchester United legend Wayne Rooney has revealed he would choose Mauricio Pochettino as the club's next manager.

Ralf Rangnick is currently in charge at Old Trafford but the interim boss will stand down in the summer with United stepping up their search for his replacement in recent times.

After conducting interviews with several candidates, two men have emerged as frontrunners for the role: Ajax head coach Erik ten Hag and Pochettino, who is currently in charge at PSG.

Speaking on Monday Night Football, Derby County manager Rooney stated the former Tottenham boss would be his choice for the top position.

"Pochettino has done it in the Premier League. At Tottenham and at Southampton he brought a lot of young players through," Rooney explained.

"If I'm choosing from one of the two, I'd go with Pochettino and I'd give him time. Managers need time to come in and actually put their blueprint on the team, on the club. If you give him time I think he'll do well."

The new United manager being afforded time to overhaul the club is an opinion also held by Rangnick.

"Manchester City and Liverpool...have been built together and recruited over a period of five or six years - all of them under the premise of how the coaches want to play,” Rangnick said recently. "I told the board this is what has to happen [at United].

“Whenever the new head coach is clear, it has to be: how does he want to play and what kind of players do we need for that? Then we come back to DNA, speed, physicality, tempo. What do we need? This team does not lack technical players, it can do with more physicality."


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