Man Utd make contact with ‘SURPRISE’ Ten Hag replacement

Robin Bairner

Updated: 15 May 2024 00:53 CDT
3 min read

Sir Jim Ratcliffe, Erik ten Hag, Man Utd — © IMAGO

Manchester United are taking concrete steps to replace Erik ten Hag, with the Premier League giants having made contact with Ipswich manager Kieran McKenna.

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The Guardian, which describes McKenna as a "surprise" candidate for the job, reports that Man Utd hold the 38-year-old in high regard after he spent six years on the coaching staff at the club before moving to become Ipswich manager in December 2021.

Indeed, he has been a roaring success at Portman Road, achieving promotion to the Championship last season before going straight through the second tier to lead his side back to the Premier League for the first time in more than two decades.

United are not alone in chasing the young manager, with Brighton and Brentford having also taken an interested in him. Ironically, the Bees might only need to sound him out should Thomas Frank move to Old Trafford, with the Dane a target that FootballTransfers first revealed they were looking at in March.

The Guardian reports on the situation: “Initial contact is believed to have already been made between United and McKenna’s representatives but sources have stressed that it is still ‘early days’.

“Ipswich are understood to be determined to keep hold of McKenna, who signed a new deal at the end of last season that ties him to the club until 2027. Any move is likely to involve paying considerable compensation, although Ipswich’s owners are planning to hold talks with the Northern Irishman in the next few weeks and believe they can convince him to lead them into the Premier League.”

McKenna is under contract at Ipswich until June 2025 and has overseen 131 matches in charge of the Tractor Boys, winning 76 of these.

What job did Kieran McKenna have at Man Utd?

He worked initially as U18 manager and as a scout at Man Utd after moving from Tottenham, where he was a youth team coach. From there, he graduated to become an assistant coach under Ole Gunnar Solskjaer.

Prior to joining Man Utd, he was forced to quit playing at the age of 22 due to a hip injury and worked at Nottingham Forest, Leicester and Vancouver Whitecaps.