Mauricio Pochettino ‘was shocked to read Man Utd had snapped up Erik ten Hag’ after nobody at the club told him in advance – even though ‘his reps held recent talks with United and he had spent months studying the city, club and players’

Manchester United managerial candidate Mauricio Pochettino was caught unaware by Erik ten Hag’s appointment, according to reports. 

Ten Hag was confirmed as the club’s new manager on Thursday morning after agreeing to a three-year deal with the option of an additional year and will take charge at the end of the season. Before his appointment, the Dutchman had been battling Pochettino for the vacancy at Old Trafford with the pair appearing to be the two leading candidates. 

However, Pochettino had not been informed by the club that Ten Hag had emerged as United’s priority target and was caught by surprise, according to The Athletic.https://player.daznservices.com/player/v3/player.html#59ac2da5888591f1d18cb921a8.xsohe0a9vwom1aofo5is4krre$s=1&location=https%253A%252F%252Fwww.dailymail.co.uk%252Fsport%252Ffootball%252Farticle-10742263%252FMan-United-Mauricio-Pochettino-surprised-Erik-ten-Hags-appointment-manager.html&visibility=hidden&secure=true&embedStyle=s

United had planned reportedly to call Pochettino to inform him directly that he had missed out on the job before the announcement came. The timing of the news was ‘awkward’ as Pochettino had felt ‘confident’.

As late as this month, the PSG boss’s representatives apparently had held discussions with Matt Judge over potential contract details. 

Two months before Ten Hag’s appointment, the Argentine is said to have been gathering information about Manchester as a city, the structure of the club and the personality of United players. 

The Athletic claimed Pochettino felt confident of getting a proposal after building a relationship with the club dating back to 2018 when he first met Ed Woodward.

Meanwhile, Sportsmail reported in February that the majority of the United squad preferred Pochettino over the Ajax boss.

But ultimately Old Trafford chiefs never consulted the squad over Ten Hag before they went through with the appointment. 

United put out feelers to see if Pochettino would be available after sacking Ole Gunnar Solskjaer in November, but were told that PSG’s Qatari owners were unwilling to release him from his contract in mid-season. 

But United are said to have never made contact with PSG over Pochettino’s potential departure from the Ligue 1 club.  

The former Tottenham manager’s interview with United reportedly took place over Zoom and did not go as well as Ten Hag’s

The Argentine is said to have revealed how many players he was willing to release from Old Trafford and spoke about how much it would cost to overhaul the squad. 

PSG were said to be demanding a substantial release fee, despite looking likely to sack the manager anyway, compared to Ajax who are willing to let Ten Hag leave for around £2million. 

The French side were initially thought to be demanding close to £10m in compensation for the potential loss of their manager but following their Champions League demise to Real Madrid, their resolve softened and are believed to settle for £5m. 

PSG were aware they could save money by letting Pochettino leave rather than paying the cost of sacking him – estimated by L’Equipe to be £17m.

However, neither the French giants or United wanted to make the first move at the risk of giving the other the upper hand, while Pochettino felt he could not push for the move as he would find himself in a weaker position when it came to negotiating his contract with the Red Devils. 

United were also worried Real Madrid would poach the PSG boss from under their noses. 

Pochettino’s future at Parc des Princes is uncertain even though his team are on course to reclaim the French title from Lille. 

The 50-year-old was under pressure to deliver the Champions League this season but his side crashed out in the last 16 to Real Madrid. 

Fans were left raging after the exit and the manager suffered resounding booing from the home side ahead of his side’s 5-1 victory over Lorient at the Parc des Princes earlier this month.

Source:dailymail