Manchester United told to target Zidane and Simeone over ten Hag and Pochettino for permanent manager

Manchester United have been urged to shift their focus away from frontrunners Erik ten Hag and Mauricio Pochettino in their hunt for their next permanent manager.

The club have already held talks with the former and have scheduled further discussions regarding their options for the vacancy. With United now outsiders for a top-four finish, it is all but assured that Ralf Rangnick will not stay on from his interim stint as first-team boss.

Instead, the hierarchy will look to appoint someone with a long-term project in mind, having sifted through seven managers, including full-time and interim, since the retirement of Sir Alex Ferguson in 2013. Speaking to talkSPORT, Scotland legend Ally McCoist said United should be gunning for either Diego Simeone or Zinedine Zidane.

READ MORE:Julen Lopetegui rules himself out of running for Manchester United manager's job

“I know people keep saying Zidane doesn’t speak English and he doesn’t want to live here, but him and Simeone appeal to me more than most of the names out there,” he said. “Pochettino, I’m not sure.

“He did a good job at Tottenham and he’s done an OK job at PSG. With Ten Hag, to be brutally honest, I don’t know enough about him.

“But the one thing that’s for certain is they have to get it right moving forward. Having as many caretaker managers as full-time managers since Sir Alex Ferguson is not the answer.”

Rangnick oversaw United’s exit from the Champions League in the last 16 - the same round in which star-studded PSG succumbed to Real Madrid and ten Hag's Ajax lost to Benfica. Meanwhile, Simeone is through to the quarter-finals with Atletico Madrid while Zidane sits at home having won three consecutive Champions League titles between 2016 and 2018 as Real Madrid’s