Man Utd dressing room make feelings clear on Ruud van Nistelrooy replacing Erik ten Hag

Ruud van Nistelrooy would be a popular appointment with the Manchester United dressing room if Erik ten Hag is to be sacked in the coming weeks, it has been claimed.

The Old Trafford icon, 48, was brought back to the club by Ten Hag in the summer as part of a coaching overhaul. But while he's impressed off the pitch, United have struggled on it.

After limping to a humbling 3-0 defeat at home to Tottenham on Sunday, United find themselves 13th in the Premier League having won just two of their six matches to date. That's piled the pressure on Ten Hag, who almost lost his job in the summer.

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Ten Hag will oversee matches against FC Porto and Aston Villa before the international break but poor results in either match would leave his position in jeopardy - and Van Nistelrooy could, in theory, soon be asked to stand in.

As first revealed by The Star, players would push for the former PSV Eindhoven head coach to be put in charge, at least on a temporary basis, if the club's top brass do decide a change is necessary.

Van Nistelrooy remains popular in both the dressing room and the terraces and is thought to be 'open' to replacing Ten Hag if the Dutchman is given the boot.

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The former Netherlands international won the Dutch Cup during his only season at the helm at PSV. He admitted previously that he was planning a return to management before he was approached by Ten Hag about joining his coaching team: an opportunity Van Nistelrooy simply couldn't turn down.

Ten Hag's future has become a topic of discussion in the Manchester United dressing room according to a new report from The Sun.

It's claimed that 'the vast majority of players' remain behind Ten Hag, though there is also talk in the dressing room over how much longer he will remain in their charge given their poor results in the Premier League.

Ten Hag, who signed a one-year contract extension in the summer, dismissed questions over his future in the aftermath of Sunday's chastening loss against Tottenham. He said: “No, I am not thinking about this. We all decided to stay together in the summer.”

The Red Devils face successive away trips this week in the form of FC Porto on Thursday before a meeting with Aston Villa on Sunday.

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