Ruben Amorim's unhappy 14 months in charge at Manchester United ended abruptly on January 5.
Despite leading United to a historically low Premier League finish in 2024/25 and winning just 38% of his matches as head coach, Amorim chose to go on the offensive against the club's hierarchy amid dwindling results over recent weeks.
The upshot was a reported breakdown in relations with director of football Jason Wilcox and Amorim's departure a day after a 1-1 draw at Leeds United.
Former United midfielder Darren Fletcher will take temporary charge of the team for the January 7 visit to Burnley and a report by The Times suggests United will then look to appoint an interim head coach until the end of the season.
MORE: Why was Ruben Amorim sacked? | Timeline of Amorim's ill-fated United reign
That ploy worked well with Ole Gunnar Solskjaer in 2019 and less so with Ralf Rangnick in 2022. Solskjaer and fellow former United players Michael Carrick and Ruud van Nistelrooy are among those who could come into the frame for the interim gig this time around. The i reports Carrick, who left his role as Middlesbrough manager at the end of last season, is a frontrunner to take charge for the rest of 2025/26.
An interim appointment would also spare a potentially chaotic repeat of Amorim's mid-season appointment in November 2024, which put his reign in a rut from which it never truly recovered.
Assuming United stick to the reported plan, who will they turn to when appointing their seventh permanent first-team boss since Sir Alec Ferguson's departure in May 2013?
Who will be next Man United manager? Top candidates
Oliver Glasner
Crystal Palace's FA Cup-winning manager Glasner was the early bookmaker's favourite, with The Telegraph reporting the 51-year-old Austrian is United's top target. There are a couple of red flags, given Glasner has shown himself to be a man committed to a 3-4-3 system and not afraid to go to war with his employers publicly. Nevertheless, he has done a superb job since arriving at Palace in February 2024 and won the 2021/22 UEFA Europa League at Eintracht Frankfurt. Glasner is out of contract at Selhurst Park in June 2026, so he would not come with a hefty compensation bill like Amorim did.
Roberto De Zerbi
Former Brighton & Hove Albion boss De Zerbi was interviewed by United in summer 2024, when they publicly sought an alternative to Erik ten Hag before handing the Dutchman a new contract and shambolically sacking him that October. Now with Marseille in Ligue 1, De Zerbi retains admirers at Old Trafford, as per the Telegraph. His high-intensity, attacking football would certainly excite fans, although his combustible personality could easily lead to the sort of flashpoints that were a feature during Amorim's final weeks.
Enzo Maresca
Amorim is not the only Premier League head coach to speak out against his bosses in public and pay with his job over recent days. Maresca's successes in the UEFA Conference League and FIFA Club World Cup last year were not enough to save him as relations deteriorated at Stamford Bridge. The Italian's Manchester City past means he is well-known to both Wilcox and United CEO Omar Berrada, not to mention readily available.
Andoni Iraola
Iraola has worked wonders at Bournemouth and has continued to play the sort of enterprising, expansive football that would play well at Old Trafford despite a number of high-profile playing departures. The Spanish tactician could be the next big name out of the Vitality Stadium after Antoine Semenyo's anticipated January exit.
Kieran McKenna
Like De Zerbi, former United assistant McKenna was sounded out when Ten Hag's job was paraded around the market in summer 2024. He worked under both Jose Mourinho and Solskjaer at Old Trafford and he worked wonders at Ipswich Town, where relegation from the Premier League last season following back-to-back promotions did little to dim his burgeoning reputation.
Gareth Southgate
INEOS are noted admirers of Southgate and the job he did with the England national team, coming into a high-profile role that felt basically rotten to the core in 2016, means he could work as a left-field fit. Nevertheless, when promoting his new book before Christmas, Southgate hinted that he has no real interest in a return to club management. Sir Jim Ratcliffe might want to test this stance.