Jim Ratcliffe has ‘five rules the Man United boss must follow’

The board will have plenty of control over the manager and team

A few days after United's FA Cup triumph against Manchester City, Erik ten Hag's future at the club is still up in the air.

The 54-year-old's position as United boss has been the subject of much speculation for months now, with Ratcliffe having still not given his public backing to the Dutchman.

If Ten Hag is sacked, some of those who are tipped to replace him are Roberto De Zerbi, Thomas Frank, Thomas Tuchel and Mauricio Pochettino.

But whether any of these coaches take over at Old Trafford or Ten Hag ends up staying in the job will reportedly depend on whether they adhere to a strict set of rules.

The Sun reports that Ratcliffe has five rules he wants the United boss to follow. The first of these supposed rules is that the manager must follow a style of play set out by new technical director Jason Wilcox. 

The INEOS CEO also wants the United gaffer to follow a new recruitment model which will see five new players under the age of 25 come through the Old Trafford. This is part of Ratcliffe's aim to unearth young talent instead of spending big money on established names in the transfer market.

Going hand in hand with this rule is another one which will apparently see the manager asked which areas he wants to strengthen in, instead of being asked who he wants to sign. This will then be followed by the board at the club putting together a list of three names for the manager to pick from for each position.

So far, Ratcliffe has been focused on recruitment at board-level at Old Trafford ever since he took control of footballing operations at the club. This has seen the British billionaire hire Omar Berrada from Man City as chief executive, and conduct a lengthy pursuit of Newcastle's sporting director Dan Ashworth.

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