It has been revealed why Manchester United turned their nose up at the chance to appoint Antonio Conte as manager following Ole Gunnar Solskjaer's exit from the club. The Italian was heavily linked with a spot in the dugout at Old Trafford as part of the Red Devils' plan to re-establish themselves as one of Europe's powerhouses.
United instead opted to bring in Ralf Rangnick on an interim basis until the end of the season, finishing sixth in the Premier League under the former RB Leipzig boss. Meanwhile Conte moved to Tottenham and led the team to Champions League qualification for the first time since 2019. But it was the 53-year-old looked primed to take the Red Devils head coach role until the intervention of Chelsea staff.
According to The Athletic, higher-ups at United got in contact with Conte's previous colleagues at Stamford Bridge to find out what he was like to work with. The report states that the feedback from Stamford Bridge was 'not positive', with Blues officials suggesting that he would be 'more difficult' to work with than Jose Mourinho - who previously left Old Trafford following a difficult period.
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Conte was never offered a job at United and they later appointed Ten Hag instead. With the former Chelsea boss seemingly on the brink of losing his job at Tottenham, the Red Devils appear to have dodged a bullet.
He has faced an increasingly uncertain future at Spurs for some time now with his contract expiring in the summer. Conte has seen the north London outfit knocked out of both the FA Cup and the Champions League this month — and supporters are losing faith in him.
And, Conte hasn't exactly helped himself but only add fuel to the fire. He delivered a fiery rant after his collapsed against Southampton, who sit bottom of the Premier League.
Tottenham blew a 3-1 lead over the Saints after James Ward-Prowse netted a penalty in the dying embers of the clash. Conte called his players 'unacceptable' and 'selfish', claimed that there was a rotten culture at Tottenham and that the club needs to 'change this situation.
"They are used to it here, they are used to it. They don't play for something important," he said. "They don't want to play under pressure, they don't want to play under stress.
"It is easy in this way. Tottenham's story is this. 20 years there is the owner and they never won something but why? The fault is only for the club or for every manager that stay here?
"I have seen the managers that Tottenham had on the bench. You risk to disrupt the figure of the manager and to protect the other situation in every moment."
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