Luis Enrique ticks a number of boxes for Man Utd

Martin Macdonald

• 10 Feb 2022 13:09 GMT
• 3 min read

Manchester United are currently in a period of uncertainty due to the managerial situation at Old Trafford.

After the disappointing tenure of Ole Gunnar Solskjaer, the Red Devils turned to former RB Leipzig boss Ralf Rangnick to steer the ship until the end of the season.

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Rangnick has been employed in a caretaker role, and at the end of the campaign the plan is for him to step upstairs into an advisory role on the academy and transfers.

As such, Man Utd will be looking for a new permanent manager in the summer, with a number of candidates emerging.

At the moment, the favourite to take over is Mauricio Pochettino.

The former Tottenham manager is currently in charge at Paris Saint-Germain but is reportedly unsettled, with the French giants lining up Zinedine Zidane as his replacement.

Man Utd were interested in appointing him before Solskjaer was given the job.

Zidane, too, is an option, but he would prefer PSG. Erik ten Hag's impressive job at Ajax has seen his name thrown in the hat also.

However, according to ESPN, there is someone else who is in with a major chance to be appointed and that is Luis Enrique.

He is currently in charge of Spain, and could be tempted back into club management, though the 2022 World Cup in Qatar may represent a problem for Man Utd as La Roja have already qualified.

ESPN report that Enrique has three characteristics which make him attractive to Man Utd.

Enrique is a winner

Though Enrique wasn't at his best at Roma, he started to find his feet at Celta which is how he earned the Barcelona job.

At Camp Nou, he fielded one of the most exciting teams the game has ever seen, spearheaded by the famous 'MSN' trio of Lionel Messi, Luis Suarez and Neymar.

Critics will point to how good a team Enrique had at that time, but Man Utd like the fact he was able to deal with so many egos to maintain a team ethic.

At Barcelona, he won two La Liga titles, three Copa del Rey titles, and one Champions League.

The Champions League came in 2015 as part of a historic treble.

Enrique plays attacking football

Man Utd have experimented over the past few years with some defensive coaches like Jose Mourinho, Louis van Gaal and Solskjaer.

None of those appointments worked, so someone who plays technical, expansive football is desired.

Enrique ticks that box.

Enrique was a world-class player and has coached world class players

Man Utd are looking to follow the model of Manchester City and Real Madrid who have gained huge success recently with Pep Guardiola and Zidane at the helm.

Both of these players were top-level in their careers, and so command respect from players in modern day who are world class.

United believe Enrique would command the respect of such players at Old Trafford.