Luis Enrique has broken his silence on potentially taking over at Manchester United, as the Red Devils continue their search for a new manager.
United officials are drafting up their list of potential managers to join to replace Ralf Rangnick, who will leave as manager at the end of the season. The German coach joined on an interim role and will be moving upstairs as a consultant in the summer.
That will involve a number of interviews with various candidates, of which one of them includes Spain boss Enrique. The 51-year-old is believed to have plenty of supporters in the Old Trafford board, and has now responded to the interest.
As Spain prepare to play Iceland in an international friendly, he said: "I will be in Qatar with Spain because I have given my word and there is nothing that makes me more excited than representing my country in the World Cup; later, we'll see."
Mirror Football understands that United are preparing to speak to Enrique over taking the job at Old Trafford this summer. He is just one of several options being looked at, though his commitment to Spain will make any talks difficult.
Erik ten Hag has already been interviewed over the post last week and is considered by many to be the frontrunner for the job. Mauricio Pochettino also remains one of the favourites for the vacancy.
The Paris Saint-Germain coach is likely to leave at the end of the season after growing pressure at the Parc des Princes. It would mean that United can finally get the manager they have targeted since his days at Tottenham for nothing.
Yet the race for the job is still wide open, denoted by the fact that they are willing to speak to Enrique. The Spaniard has been in charge of his country since 2018 - though there was a spell where he stepped away from the role for four months over personal reasons.
The former midfielder is best known for his three years at Barcelona where he won the treble in 2015 with the famous forward line of Lionel Messi, Luis Suarez and Neymar. If Enrique is appointed as manager of United, it would be a huge shock considering the logistics surrounding his situation compared to the more straightforward cases of Ten Hag and Pochettino.
Rangnick, meanwhile, was giving nothing away when asked about the ongoing process and insisted that he is out of the loop at Old Trafford. When asked, he said last month: "I have no idea.
"I am here until the end of the season and it is important to develop the players. We have had one or two meetings with the head of scouting. We have not spoken about the new manager too much.
"All my efforts will be on helping these players fulfil their potential, both individually and, most importantly, as a team. Beyond that, I look forward to supporting the club's longer-term goals on a consultancy basis."
