Key Man Utd man to make history with major transfer - Romano

Tom Weber

• Updated: 19 Feb 2024 15:11 GMT
• 3 min read

Manchester United first-team coach Eric Ramsay is nearing a historic switch to Minnesota United, according to Fabrizio Romano.

The Major League Soccer side are in a bit of a pickle. In 2023, the club parted ways with former Everton and Man City attacker Adrian Heath, who had been the club's only head coach since their inaugural season in 2017.

Sean McAuley took over on an interim basis and was expected to lead the club into the 2024 campaign. McAuley, however, surprisingly left his role in January, with Cameron Knowles, head coach of Minnesota United 2, taking over in his stead, also on an interim basis.

With the 2024 MLS season kicking off on February 21, the Loons are still without a permanent manager, but that could, at last, change soon. According to Fabrizio Romano and Tom Bogert of The Athletic, Minnesota are nearing a deal to appoint Eric Ramsay as the club's head coach.

Ramsay to leave Man Utd

Ramsay is currently part of Erik ten Hag's first-team coaching staff at Man Utd, having joined the club in the summer of 2021 after a stint as an assistant with Chelsea's U23s. The Loons have made the 31-year-old their top target and talks are said to be progressing well, with only some final details in need of ironing out.

Intriguingly, Ramsay is set to become MLS's youngest-ever permanent head coach, beating a record that has stood since the league's inaugural season in 1996 when Roy Wegerle was in charge of the Colorado Rapids aged 32. Former FC Cincinnati interim boss Yoann Damet was only 29 when he was in the dugout, but he never got the job on a permanent basis.

It is not clear what kind of compensation the Loons will have to part with to buy Ramsay out of his United deal. Minnesota kick off their 2024 season against Austin FC on Saturday.