Manchester United have allegedly made some type of contact with Antonio Conte and Julen Lopetegui in recent months.
Although Erik ten Hag delivered an EFL Cup during his first season in charge, the Dutchman has not been considered safe in his position through 2023-24.
An early exit from the Champions League has been the biggest contributing factor, yet United remain off the pace of the top five in the Premier League.
As it stands, the Red Devils trail a potential Champions League spot by six points, with their current situation only recently helped by back-to-back wins over Wolverhampton Wanderers and West Ham United.
Nevertheless, such form will need to continue in the long term if Ten Hag is to permanently win over Sir Jim Ratcliffe, who is on the brink of officially taking over footballing operations at Old Trafford.
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According to CaughtOffside, United are still willing to consider alternatives to Ten Hag at this point.
The report claims that 'initial contact' has been made with each of Conte and Lopetegui to gauge whether they would have any interest in moving to the Theatre of Dreams in the future.
Any change is reportedly unlikely to take place before the end of the campaign, faith seemingly being kept in Ten hag for the time being and Ratcliffe preferring not to further unsettle matters at the club.
However, Conte and Lopetegui are said to be on United's shortlist of potential replacements, with each of the high-profile names being out of a job after recent positions in the Premier League.
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Conte had a 77-game spell with Tottenham Hotspur, winning on 41 occasions, but the 24 defeats proved to be costly and he was sacked in March after fierce criticism of his squad.
Meanwhile, Lopetegui mutually agreed to leave Wolves in August, a consequence of the club failing to deliver his desired transfer targets due to a poor FFP position.
Since then, Wolves have flourished under Gary O'Neil, despite being one of a number of pre-season relegation favourites, yet Lopetegui's reputation remains intact courtesy of taking Wolves from bottom to 13th during the second half of 2023-24.
The Spaniard is known to be keen on another Premier League job and was recently linked with Nottingham Forest before Nuno Espirito Santo replaced Steve Cooper at the City Ground.
Darren Plant
