It will be an interesting summer again for Manchester United come end of the season. Over the years, the club has developed a reputation of being smart with the money and getting the best deal possible for new players, some already world beaters and others tiptoeing around a breakthrough.
But the success they achieved in player transfers, seems a difficult thing to replicate in terms of managers.
Granted they haven’t had much experience in the matter in recent past but they seem to have gone from one soft-spoken train wreck to a more opinionated one. And the end of the season surely spells the end of Louis van Gaal’s time unless United’s form reaches unheralded heights from heron.
But who next
No doubt the United upper management will look around with a bit of trepidation.
Their next door neighbours have roped in a game changer in Pep Guardiola — a winning machine. Liverpool have one of the brightest and passionate character in Jurgen Klopp. Arsenal will continue to remain Arsenal under their apparently eternal Arsene Wenger while Tottenham Hotspur are making moves under Mauricio Pochettino. All this is after discounting any new teams pulling a Leicester City and the original from having the kind of season they had this time around.
Chelsea are also in the same boat and if they manage to land their top pick in Massimo Allegri as the next man to sit on their revolving chair which inevitably points to the door even at the slightest turn of its axis, United are left with few options in their hands.
The question remains, will they finally relent and be driven, by the big names on the hot seats around them, to call up Jose Mourinho
There is little doubt that the Portuguese will take up the job in the blink of an eye, even as he looms like a dark cloud over United’s training ground and press room where every wrong move by van Gaal raises stage whispers of his once right hand man.
The constant reports of the Portuguese being on the verge of signing a contract and already deciding the team he wants next year, real or fictitious as they may be, has not done any favours for United. But then again everyone knows about Mourinho’s ability to manipulate the media.
Or they will finally take a leaf out of Barcelona’s book and give Ryan Giggs a chance at the helm. An inevitability in the long run perhaps accelerated by outside catalysts though it might not be the best for the club or for the man.
Or even bring in Laurent Blanc, unlikely as it might be considering the manager just signed a two-year extension with Paris St. Germain. While a minor hindrance there, it wont take much to get him out of it either.
Ask Manuel Pellegrini.
Former player, a manager of international experience and currently running away with the French League. He knows the club and could give Giggs more time to learn the nuances of management.
With top managers currently at premium, the choice, come end of the season, whoever it might be, has got to be a success. Three years is far too long for a club of that stature to be away from the title picture.
