5 Pochettino Alternatives for Man United's Manager

In what is one of his lowest prices with bookmakers, Mauricio Pochettino is now priced at 1/4 to join Manchester United as the club's next manager.

However, with his connection to Tottenham Hostpur, the fact the Pochettino is a wanted man around Europe and how United seem satisfied with Ole Gunnar Solskjaer, it does seem that this bus might pass.

Here, we take a look 5 alternatives to the Argentine which United could look towards if Pochettino becomes unavailablele.

One person who could become the next United manager outside of Pochettino is former Juventus manager, Massimiliano Allegri. The Italian is up there with the elite managers of the world and could be a fairly likely appointment for United, if previous success is anything to go by.

Allegri started his career at Sassuolo where he brought them from Serie C to Serie B in one season, this brought large amounts of attention. After joining AC Milan from Cagliari in 2010, he won the league in his first season and was manager of the year in his second despite the squad decline.

However, his main success has been at Juventus where he has won 11 trophies with five of them being Serie A titles. As well as this, he has reached two Champions League finals but were runners-up in both with Juventus.

As well as this, tactically, he is far better than Solskjaer in terms of winning trophies and could increase United’s chances of a top four finish. One downfall is that the Red Devils may not play the attacking football many fans are used to, with most Italian managers favouring the five at the back formation. However, this has been proven to bring results, as shown with Antonio Conte’s Chelsea, who won the Premier League.

Currently, Massimiliano Allegri odds of becoming the next United manager are priced at 5/1.

Another alternative who could become the next manager of United is Leicester City boss Brendan Rodgers. Rodgers is also another elite manager who has played for many of the top clubs in the United Kingdom.

In the Premier League alone he has played for clubs of Leicester City and Liverpool and in both have competed for title races but has not won any silverware. The place where he won his honours was at Celtic where he earned seven trophies from May 2016 to February 2019.

Despite his quality of management, there are external factors that will have almost ruled out this as a potential signing. The first is that he currently manages Leicester, who are second in the league and are competing for the title race once again, after falling short to Jurgen Klopp's men last season.

However, the second and most crucial is that he managed one of United’s biggest rivals of Liverpool. Therefore this is an extremely unlikely move for the Northern Ireland coach and he will most likely not want to leave his current team. As of now, odds of Brendan Rodgers becoming the next United manager are priced at 14/1.

One highly-rated manager who could become the next manager of United outside of Pochettino is RB Leipzig’s, Julian Nagelsmann. After bursting onto the scene this year, 33-year-old Nagelsmann became the youngest coach to win a UEFA Champions League knockout tie and helped to lead RB Leipzig to their first semi-final.

This has attracted large amounts of attention as well as him being nominated for the UEFA Men's Coach of the Year alongside fellow German managers Jurgen Klopp and Hans Dieter-Flick. There is a lot of promise about the German manager with some stating he is tactically better than Pep Guardiola.

Therefore this would be an extremely good signing for the Red Devils. However, there are doubts about this move. The major doubt is that Nagelsmann is creating history with this Leipzig side that was only founded in 2009.

The German side is currently joint second in Group H of the Champions League, level on points with Solskjaer’s United after three games played. They are also third in the Bundesliga, two points of Borussia Dortmund and Bayern Munich after six games played.

Although, United is a gargantuan club and could hold the pulling power over the young German manager. As of now, Nagelsmann is priced at 12/1 odds of becoming the next United manager.

Nuno Espirito Santo is another name that could be seen as an alternative to Solskjaer if they were not to sign Pochettino. The current Wolverhampton Wanderers manager has been very successful in recent years after taking over in July 2017.

In his first season as manager, he finished top of the Championship on 99 points which was a 41 points increase from the previous season where they finished 15th in the league. Then, in the Premier League the following year, he took Wolves to seventh in the table earning them a Europa League spot.

As well as this, in the following season, he became the second manager to complete the double over Guardiola’s Manchester City. There is certainly no doubt about the quality of Santo’s management making him a potential target for United.

However, a move to Old Trafford seems unlikely especially with Wolves sat in sixth position, six points clear of Solksjaer’s side. As well as this, similar to Naglesmann, he is creating history at Molineux and is part of a project which he may not want to leave as of yet.

Although, it would be difficult to turn down an offer from one of the biggest clubs in world football. Currently, Nuno Espirito Santo is priced at odds of 20/1 to become the next manager of United.

One final alternative that United could go after if they weren’t to get Pochettino is current Atletico Madrid manager, Diego Simeone. Since he arrived at the club in 2012, Simeone has been extremely successful for the Spanish club making La Liga no longer a 'two-team' league.

Before he arrived, Atletico Madrid finished 44 points off title winners Barcelona, now just last season, they finished only 17 points off.

In his time at the club, Simeone has won eight honours at Atletico Madrid, including La Liga winners in 2013/14 (the first time since 1995/96), being named World's best club coach in 2012/13 and winning the Europa League twice.

There is no question about the Argentian’s ability as a manager and how he could be very successful at United but there are doubts about the likelihood of this move. The major doubt is that Simeone has been an integral part of Atletico Madrid’s squad for some time and he may not want to make a move to another club.

Although, now could be a good time to become successful elsewhere and make a bigger name for himself as a manager. Currently, Simeone is priced at odds of 33/1 to become the next Atletico Madrid manager.