Man Utd manager rankings: Pros and cons of all 4 candidates as interview process begins

With just two months left until the end of the season, Manchester United's hunt for their next manager has begun to heat up.

Interim boss Ralf Rangnick is due to move into a consultancy role at the end of the campaign, helping the club identify their new man and sticking around while they find their feet and build a squad. Suggestions that Rangnick himself could be in contention for the permanent gig have quietened in the light of United's Champions League exit and Premier League struggles, but four managers remain very much in the mix.

Erik ten Hag has been interviewed for the job, and is believed to be United's clear preference, though Mauricio Pochettino, Luis Enrique and Julen Lopetegui are also in the hunt. Here, Mirror Football looks more closely at the quartet and identifies the pros and cons of each.

Ajax boss Ten Hag has a near-flawless domestic record with the Amsterdam club. His team won the Eredivisie in 2018-19 and 2020-21, the latter by a 16-point margin, and were joint-top in the intervening season when the Dutch season was curtailed.

The run to the Champions League semi-finals in 2019 also demonstrated European pedigree, with no United team making it as far in the competition since they reached the final under Sir Alex Ferguson in 2011. Ten Hag has also shown smarts in the transfer market, rebuilding after that season's squad was ripped apart, and there's every chance United will need wholesale changes with several current squad members out of contract in the summer and others linked with permanent exits.

The manner of Ajax's 2019 elimination may worry United, with Ten Hag's men holding a three-goal advantage with just 45 minutes remaining and still falling to Spurs. Similarly, the unexpected