Cristiano Ronaldo vetoed Antonio Conte as Manchester United's Virgil van Dijk decision emerges

Here are your Manchester United evening headlines for Wednesday, April 13.

Ronaldo vetoed Antonio Conte arrival as Manchester United boss

Cristiano Ronaldo played a role in Manchester United’s discarding of Antonio Conte as the club’s next boss in October. Club officials were not too keen on the Italian anyway but Ronaldo’s disgruntlement over the possibility was fed back to the board.

United ultimately opted to hand Ralf Rangnick an interim role with a view to appoint a new permanent boss in time for next season. Erik ten Hag is now close to signing as the club’s new manager after being their preferred choice since mid-March.

READ MORE: Erik ten Hag appointment will put two Manchester United careers on the line

United were confident of landing the Dutchman back in January. The future of Ronaldo remains unclear, though, with the Red Devils set to miss out on a Champions League spot as things stand.

Read more the full story here.

McClaren makes Sir Alex comparison to ten Hag

Former United assistant manager Steve McClaren has compared Erik ten Hag to Sir Alex Ferguson. The 60-year-old was Sir Alex’s number two between 1999 and 2001, being part of the staff that helped United to the famous Treble.

Ten Hag was McClaren’s assistant at FC Twente when he guided the club to their only ever Dutch title in 2009. There had been reports linking him to a return to Old Trafford under ten Hag in a role-reversal.

McClaren praised ten Hag for his meticulous attention to detail and his game-changing tactics, likening him to Ferguson. He said: “His adjustments in the games — obviously I had worked with Sir Alex, and I used to think that some of his subs and changes were strange, but they always worked. Erik is the same in that respect."

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