Who will be the next Manchester United manager after Ten Hag?

Manchester United sacked manager Erik ten Hag on Monday (Oct 28) after the club failed to show any progress in the Dutchman's third season, leaving the hot seat vacant for a new coach to try their luck at one of the toughest jobs in the Premier League.

Since Alex Ferguson stepped down in 2013, the 20-times English champions have not won the league title despite some big names such as Louis van Gaal and Jose Mourinho taking the reins.

The following are some of the candidates among the favourites to replace Ten Hag:

The coach of Portuguese side Sporting appeared as the frontrunner to replace Ten Hag after United opened talks with the Primeira Liga champions for the 39-year-old's services, Sky News reported.

Amorim led Sporting to the championship in 2021, ending a 19-year league title drought, before winning a second last season.

United are willing to pay his €10 million euros (US$10.82 million) release clause as the coach is under contract with the Portuguese club until 2026, the report said.

The former United forward was a crowd favourite during his time at the club where he scored 150 goals and is no stranger to the dugout having taken the role of assistant coach this season.

Van Nistelrooy will replace Ten Hag on an interim basis but this is not his first big job as a coach. The Dutchman managed PSV Eindhoven in the 2022-23 season when he guided them to the Dutch Cup and second place in the Eredivisie.

United will hope the squad responds to a former player taking charge in the manner that Van Nistelrooy's ex-teammate Ole Gunnar Solskjaer revived the club's fortunes when he came in on an interim basis and was rewarded with the permanent role.

After a stellar career in which he won 25 trophies as a midfielder with Barcelona, Xavi