Bookies name new favourite to become next Man Utd manager as Erik ten Hag fights to save his job

A new bookmakers’ favourite to replace Erik ten Hag as Manchester United manager has been named.

Ten Hag has come under scrutiny after a poor start to the 2023/24 season.

United have picked up just eight points from their seven Premier League games so far, making this their worst start to a season since the 1989/90 campaign.

The Dutchman has not been aided by the fact that their two heaviest defeats – 3-0 to both Liverpool and Tottenham – have both occurred at Old Trafford.

Many of United‘s board members – including minority co-owner Sir Jim Ratcliffe, majority owner Joel Glazer and chief executive Omar Berrada – held a seven-hour meeting on Tuesday to discuss club-related matters.

While it was reported that Ten Hag‘s future was on the agenda, no public decision has been announced and the Dutchman is still in line to be charge for next Saturday’s clash against Brentford.

However, the Manchester Evening News report that United have lined up Thomas Tuchel as a potential successor.

Tuchel is out of work after leaving Bayern Munich in the summer, having reportedly rejected the chance to be appointed at Old Trafford before the club decided to stick with Ten Hag at the end of last season.

Now, as per Oddschecker, Tuchel has jumped above Gareth Southgate and Ruud van Nistelrooy and is now the new favourite to be named as the next United manager.

The German is now at shortest odds of 7/4 with bet365, with Ruud van Nistelrooy at 2/1 with several bookmakers.

Thomas Tuchel pictured in charge of Bayern Munich – Getty

Southgate, meanwhile, was the favourite as recently as last week, but his odds have drifted after he announced that he would not return to coaching within the next year after resigning as England manager in July.

Another intriguing name near the top of the list is Michael Carrick. While not seemingly being considered a frontrunner for the role, he is now available at odds of 5/2 with bet365 and 3/1 with others – although there is fluctuation between the bookmakers, with the ex-United midfielder having longest odds of 10/1.

The latest odds are below (longest odds listed and correct at the time of writing, via Oddschecker):

• Thomas Tuchel – 9/4
• Ruud van Nistelrooy – 4/1
• Gareth Southgate – 9/1
• Michael Carrick – 10/1
• Graham Potter – 16/1
• Kieran McKenna – 16/1