Manchester United are currently in the process of looking for a new permanent manager to replace Ralf Rangnick at the end of the season.
The expectation is that Rangnick will move upstairs into a consultancy role working alongside the likes of John Murtough and Darren Fletcher to guide the club's football strategy.
The hope is that United will be able to appoint one of their primary targets in the summer, which are understood to include both Mauricio Pochettino and Erik ten Hag, but if circumstances arise where the club are unable to appoint one of these managers, what happens next?
There is a small possibility that Rangnick himself will remain as manager of United on a permanent basis and, back in December, the German gave his thoughts on that possibility as he said: “If they will then speak with me about that we will see. Maybe if they ask my opinion and everything goes well and we develop the team I might even make the same recommendation to the board that I did at Leipzig twice when I recommended it might be a good idea to keep working with me for one year.
“But this is all hypothetical. For me now it’s about winning the next games and this is the major focus.”
If he stays for that one year or maybe even two, it would mean that United could be competing with Manchester City and in the case of two, Liverpool, for their next manager should the Pep Guardiola and Jurgen Klopp cycles come to an end but it could also mean that the profile of manager that the club target would alter.
At the moment, United are largely a blank slate and therefore the club are approaching their manager search without a specific style or tactic in mind despite Rangnick's arrival designed to help the club establish their identity. If they were to continue under the tutelage of Rangnick, it would be safe to assume the team would adopt his philosophy and the potential targets to replace him would then reflect that.
Julian Nagelsmann would be the obvious choice, who is currently at Bayern Munich and Marco Rose with Borussia Dortmund has also been brought up in the RB style that Rangnick cultivated but an outside option could be Jesse Marsch. After all, they are cut from the same cloth.
Marsch was sacked from his role at RB Leipzig earlier this season but has now been appointed as Marcelo Bielsa's successor at Leeds United following the Argentine's dismissal.
The idea that he would not cross the divide is probably wishful thinking from a Leeds perspective given the number of players who have made the switch. But make no mistake about it, Marsch has an unenviable job on his hands at Elland Road and if he proves himself, he will become hot property. While the footballing principles are largely the same, his style of pressing and defending varies wildly from Bielsa's so he must first find a way to avoid relegation and then implement his philosophy onto the team moving forwards into next season.
If he manages to keep Leeds up and then faces United next season, he will also have a chance to show first-hand if he can do what Bielsa failed to and beat United. Yes, I know how ludicrous that sounds.
It remains United's priority to appoint one of their top targets in Pochettino or Ten this summer but a more protracted spell under Rangnick would lock the style of football in place and push Marsch up the list of potential successors. United's own progress at the end of this season and Leeds' own fortunes will be key contributing factors.
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