Mauricio Pochettino 'mistake' cost him Man Utd job as Erik ten Hag announced

Mauricio Pochettino's decision to stay quiet on interest from Manchester United late last year has been outlined as a 'mistake' that ultimately played a part in costing him the United job, according to a new report.

The Paris Saint-Germain chief's name had been in the frame at United ever since a string of rotten results cost Ole Gunnar Solskjaer his job back in November. However, the 50-year-old has been pipped to the post by Erik ten Hag, who Manchester United formally confirmed as their new manager on Thursday morning.

Now that Ten Hag has finally been confirmed as United's fifth permanent manager since Sir Alex Ferguson stepped down back in 2013, fresh details have emerged over the meticulous recruitment process that has dominated the narrative at Old Trafford over the past few months. And it appears that Pochettino's own conservative reaction to being linked with the job in the immediate aftermath of Solskjaer's dismissal has ultimately come back to haunt him.

The Manchester Evening News has outlined that Pochettino was United's primary target after Solskjaer was sacked, with the club even approaching PSG in a bid to thrash out an agreement for the highly-rated coach. However, the French giants were in mood to lose the Argentine - and Pochettino himself made the mistake of 'keeping his powder dry' after being linked with the coveted job.

Pochettino's decision to not 'agitate' for the job that he'd had his eye on for six years meant that PSG were under no pressure to relent to United's demands; leaving the Old Trafford hierarchy to instead focus on an interim appointment.

And while Pochettino has remained in the frame for the United job since then, his stock in Paris has plummeted after PSG were dumped out