Roberto De Zerbi has been sounded out as a potential replacement for Erik ten Hag as Manchester United manager.

De Zerbi’s attractive possession-based style of play and the 44-year-old’s feat of qualifying Brighton for European football last year for the first time in the club’s history have impressed Sir Jim Ratcliffe, who controls football operations at United having purchased a 27.7% stake in the club last year.

It is understood that De Zerbi has been contacted by United with regard to succeeding Ten Hag who, as reported by the Guardian, is likely to be sacked. The Italian left Brighton by mutual consent at the end of the recent season.

In business, Ratcliffe has not become a multi-billionaire by shirking tough decisions. He once earned the moniker of “Dr No” among union chiefs at Grangemouth oil refinery through his obstinate refusal to compromise. Little compares, though, to the difficulty of the call he must now make on Ten Hag. Few stock values have ever fluctuated as violently as the Dutchman’s. The United manager entered this match a condemned man and he finished it an apparent tactical genius, with his players all imploring him to have his moment with his trophy.

Manchester United ended a frustrating season on a brilliant note as they stunned Manchester City to lift the FA Cup with a 2-1 win at Wembley.

Alejandro Garnacho and Kobbie Mainoo put United in control at the break, and while Jeremy Doku pulled one back late on, Erik ten Hag’s side held on.

Manchester United have decided to sack Erik ten Hag regardless of the outcome of this weekend’s FA Cup final against Manchester City.

Dan Ashworth reportedly sent an email to a Newcastle United address and in the process, accidentally revealed that he was engaging in talks with Omar Berrada – the man set to become Manchester United’s next CEO.

Amad Diallo’s rocket and Rasmus Hojlund’s fine finish secured Manchester United and under-fire Erik ten Hag a much-needed win against fellow European hopefuls Newcastle in their final home match of a season to forget.

The injury-ravaged Red Devils have lost 19 in all competitions this term and knew defeat on Wednesday would set unwanted records, as well as end any hope of continental qualification through the Premier League.

Former Manchester United midfielder David Beckham hopes a documentary about the club's Treble-winning campaign in 1998-99 can inspire the Old Trafford side out of their current struggles.
Beckham was part of a United side that won the Champions League, Premier League and FA Cup 25 years ago under Sir Alex Ferguson.
The present team are eighth in the Premier League and have not won the top-flight title since 2013.
United last won the Champions League in 2008 and the FA Cup in 2016, although they did win the Europa League in 2017 and League Cup in 2023.

It is five years since Ole Gunnar Solskjaer first talked about the need for a ruthless cull at Manchester United but supporters are still waiting for one worthy of that description to materialise and, over time, the scale of the overhaul required has only mushroomed.

Too many substandard players have subsequently been added to the ones the club have habitually failed to move on – often at great expense and without total clarity about the areas that need plugging and the type of football they want to play – and the cumulative effect has been deepening mutation of a Frankenstein squad.

What is clear, then, is that the new Old Trafford hierarchy Sir Jim Ratcliffe and his Ineos team are pulling together are not going to fix all of United’s historic problems in a single summer,

Anthony celebrated the elusive opening goal in the 79th minute, it was abundantly clear that he and most of those inside Old Trafford felt that it was the winner as Manchester United hosted Burnley in their Premier League encounter. However, Burnley had a big response even later as Zeki Amdouni grabbed a dramatic equaliser to deny the hosts victory.

The win, though, was the same weary tale of United’s season: bright patches in attack, naive play at the back which twice allowed Sheffield United to take the lead – through Jayden Bogle and Ben Brereton Díaz, these goals answered by Harry Maguire and a Fernandes penalty. Victory does quieten – for a day or so, anyway – the incessant noise around a United campaign that has been a series of stumbles interrupted by the odd convincing display.

As Ten Hag said: “Many positives [including] the resilience to fight back after losing two times. But also there were negatives. We gave it away [goals], it can’t happen, unacceptable. Have you seen some panic [when falling behind]? Not at all, we were very composed. I’m happy with the win and we need to move on.”

Erik ten Hag has hit back at the media for its "embarrassing" reaction to Manchester United's narrow FA Cup semi-final victory over Coventry, describing certain comments as a "disgrace".

United limped into the FA Cup final by winning on penalties having let a 3-0 lead slip and almost lost the tie in the last minute of extra-time when Coventry had a goal disallowed by an ultra-tight VAR call.

Despite a turbulent season, Erik ten Hag’s team may still move on to the FA Cup final if they defeat their Championship rivals at Wembley on Sunday afternoon.
Away from the pitch, Old Trafford has seen a lot of change in the last year. Sir Jim Ratcliff and the club’s owners, the Glazer family, worked out a deal that allowed the petrochemicals tycoon to purchase a £1.3 billion minority stake in the team.
Though they are rarely seen in public, United’s much-maligned proprietors were observed on Friday strolling through London and were captured on camera having a conversation with Chisora on the side of the road.

Manchester United scraped into the FA Cup final on penalties despite throwing away a three-goal lead against Championship side Coventry in an epic semi-final at Wembley.

In a very modern-day thriller, United came out on top in a penalty shootout they were losing at one stage.

A quite remarkable contest only got that far because Victor Torp's effort in injury time in extra time was ruled out for offside by video assistant referee Peter Bankes.

But after Bradley Collins saved United's first kick, from Casemiro, Andre Onana denied Callum O'Hare, then unsettled Ben Sheaf with some verbal jousting - and the Coventry captain missed - allowing Rasmus Hojlund to win it.

Manchester United football director John Murtough has stepped down from his post and will leave the club this week after more than 10 years’ service, as the INEOS-led restructure of sporting operations at Old Trafford continues.

The investment into United by Sir Jim Ratcliffe and the appointments he is making to key roles produced an expectation that Murtough would depart or be offered a different position.

But in a move now set to be officially confirmed, Murtough has decided to stand aside altogether and let the new set-up take shape.

Murtough will effectively be replaced by Dan Ashworth, once the Newcastle United sporting director’s spell of gardening leave finishes, while Southampton director of football Jason Wilcox is on course to be named technical director.