Julen Lopetegui's past Man United admission amid manager job shortlist reports

Sevilla boss Julen Lopetegui has spoken of his awe of "biggest team in the world" Manchester United amid reports he is in the frame for the managerial vacancy at Old Trafford.

According to Sky Sports, Lopetegui and Spain head coach Luis Enrique have joined Erik ten Hag and Mauricio Pochettino on United's manager shortlist ahead of a summer appointment.

Manchester Evening News understands that the Ajax boss, Ten Hag, is the preferred candidate for the role. Ralf Rangnick is set to hand over control of the Reds at the end of the season, before moving into a consultancy role.

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Lopetegui faced off against Manchester United in 2020, a game Sevilla won 2-1. Ahead of the match, the Europa League-winning Spaniard spoke highly of the English giants.

"We are going to play against Manchester United in the next match [in the Europa League] - they're the biggest team in the world but we're going to be prepared for them," Lopetegui told the media in 2020. "We're focused on the next game, against a top, historic side, one of the best in the history of the sport who are in great form.

"We will give our best as we always do. To play against them will be really tough, but we'll go into it believing we can beat them."

Lopetegui's side got the better of Ole Gunnar Solskjaer's as Suso and Luuk de Jong sent them through to the final. Bruno Fernandes opened the scoring after nine minutes from the spot, the Reds would go on to be beaten in the final, a year later.

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