Man United next manager: Assessing candidates to replace Erik ten Hag if Red Devils sack Dutch boss

As Manchester United's season continues to slip away, the pressure around Dutch boss Erik ten Hag continues to get more palpable.

The latest slip saw the Red Devils crash out of Europe as they fell 1-0 to Bayern Munich on the final day of Champions League group-stage play, finishing bottom of their four-team group to leave them eliminated from Europe in their worst performance in the competition since 2005.

On top of that, they set the record for most goals against in a Champions League group stage by an English club, with 15 conceded in their six games. Their defensive record has collapsed as the season goes on: from a Premier League standpoint, they sit eighth in the English top flight, but their -5 goal differential is the worst of any club in the top 10.

With Jim Ratcliffe having now completed the formalities around his investment into the club, taking control of 25% of his boyhood club after a year of negotiations, the pressure will be piled on even more. Indeed, Ratcliffe wants United back at "the very top of world football". 

The Sporting News has laid out all the options should Man United move on from Ten Hag and look for a new beginning, in the hopes of salvaging the 2023/24 season.

How Man United produced their worst Champions League group stage in 18 years

If Manchester United decide to pull the plug on Erik ten Hag's managerial tenure at Old Trafford, there aren't any perfect options for his replacement.

That allows us to speculate some as to who could slot in as the next man hoping to take United back to former glories, which still evade the club since the departure of Sir Alex Ferguson over a decade ago.

The former Real Madrid manager has been out of work since departing the Spanish club in 2021, clearly waiting