Tottenham Hotspur held talks to land Ernesto Valverde over the summer – and now he is in talks over a shock move to Manchester United.
The Guardian report that United have spoken to Valverde over the position of interim manager for the rest of the season.
United sacked Ole Gunnar Solskjaer on Sunday morning after a rather embarrassing 4-1 thumping at Watford.
Michael Carrick is the current caretaker manager, but United are targeting an interim manager to take them until the end of the season.
Whether Valverde would be open to taking an interim role remains to be seen, but it would be a foot in the door at Old Trafford.
Valverde, 57, has been out of management since leaving Barcelona in 2020.
Formerly of Athletic Bilbao, Espanyol, Olympiacos, Villarreal and Valencia, Valverde could finally make a first move to the Premier League after missing out on the Tottenham job.
Valverde may have been better than Nuno, but Tottenham have their man now
Tottenham approached Valverde over the summer, viewing him as a possible replacement for Jose Mourinho.
The talks didn’t go anywhere in the end as Tottenham appointed Nuno instead.
Yet with Nuno sacked just a matter of months into the job, maybe Valverde would have been a better choice.
For United to now target Valverde shows how highly-regard the Spaniard is in coaching circles.
With Tottenham eventually landing Antonio Conte, Spurs will ultimately feel they got it right in the end.
If Valverde does head to United though, he will have a chance to show Tottenham what they missed out on.
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