Ralf Rangnick finds himself at odds with Manchester United 's players once again, this time over who their club's next manager should be.
The German is currently at the helm on an interim basis and has endured rocky ride with his squad so far, as the Red Devils are set to make a permanent appointment before the end of the season.
Mirror Football understands that United's players want former Tottenham Hotspur boss Mauricio Pochettino to take charge in the summer, having been heavily linked with the job before Ole Gunnar Solskjaer was handed the keys after a similar situation in 2019.
But Rangnick, who has not ruled out staying on for another year, has another target in mind: Ajax' s Erik ten Hag.
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According to ESPN, Ten Hag is someone who the 63-year-old 'admires' and believes would be a good fit at Old Trafford, with the pair sharing a closer connection when it comes to style of play than Rangnick and Pochettino.
However, the Paris Saint-Germain manager is open to returning to the Premier League after being sacked by Tottenham just five months on from reaching the Champions League final - notably beating Ten Hag's side along the way.
Pochettino, who is contracted to PSG until June 2023, also possess a proven ability to blood young players and showed during his time at Southampton and Spurs that he can cultivate an exciting, attacking and attractive team.
But more importantly, Mirror Football have been told that the Red Devils hierarchy are confident that they can land him.
His experience in the English top flight could give him the edge over Ten Hag, who has been in the Ajax hot seat for five years and is on course to win his third Eredivisie title to cap another impressive campaign.
The Dutchman earned with stripes in German football by coaching Bayern Munich 's second team between 2013 and 2015, something which may well have a significant influence on Rangnick's preference.
United's current boss will take on a two-year consultancy role at Old Trafford when he leaves the dugout in May, although he staked his claim for potentially staying on as manager during his very first press conference after replacing Solskjaer.
"The people with whom I have spoken so far have been very clear that we're talking about a six, six and a half month role as a manager currently," Rangnick explained.
"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. We cannot speak about that."
