Jesse Marsch's Leeds appointment provides perfect audition for future Manchester United move

Manchester United are currently in the process of looking for a new permanent manager to replace Ralf Rangnick at the end of the season.

The expectation is that Rangnick will move upstairs into a consultancy role working alongside the likes of John Murtough and Darren Fletcher to guide the club's football strategy.

The hope is that United will be able to appoint one of their primary targets in the summer, which are understood to include both Mauricio Pochettino and Erik ten Hag, but if circumstances arise where the club are unable to appoint one of these managers, what happens next?

There is a small possibility that Rangnick himself will remain as manager of United on a permanent basis and, back in December, the German gave his thoughts on that possibility as he said: “If they will then speak with me about that we will see. Maybe if they ask my opinion and everything goes well and we develop the team I might even make the same recommendation to the board that I did at Leipzig twice when I recommended it might be a good idea to keep working with me for one year.

“But this is all hypothetical. For me now it’s about winning the next games and this is the major focus.”

If he stays for that one year or maybe even two, it would mean that United could be competing with Manchester City and in the case of two, Liverpool, for their next manager should the Pep Guardiola and Jurgen Klopp cycles come to an end but it could also mean that the profile of manager that the club target would alter.

At the moment, United are largely a blank slate and therefore the club are approaching their manager search without a specific style or tactic in mind despite Rangnick's arrival designed to help the club establish their identity. If they