Manchester United's controlling co-owner Sir Jim Ratcliffe has been urged to make a fresh move for Zinedine Zidane.
Ratcliffe as manager for now, despite United's awful start to the season. Ten Hag has seen his side in all competitions.
That has put the Dutchman under serious pressure of being sacked, though last week. But if their poor form continues, Ratcliffe will surely be on the search for a replacement.
One of the leading candidates may well be Zidane, who led to two titles and three Champions Leagues. But Zidane's former France team-mate Emmanuel Petit believes Ratcliffe will need to give assurances over transfers and the safety of his position if he is to take charge.
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“I'm not sure that he speaks very good English as well. And communication is very important in the dressing room. Honestly, I know a little bit, Zizou [Zidane], and he needs to get guarantees if he wants to sign over there in ,” Petit told the .
“At the moment, the environment at Manchester United for years has not been good. The stability of the bench, the level of the players as well, the expectation of the club is not the same that it used to be. United is still a huge club, but not on the pitch anymore.
"And Zizou is very conscious and very careful about that, the quality of the players. At the moment, when you look at the team, I'm not convinced at all about the level of some players. If he takes the job at Manchester United, that means he's got solutions."
HAVE YOUR SAY! Would Zinedine Zidane be a good manager for Manchester United? .
Ten Hag meanwhile is adamant he retains the backing of United's top chiefs. Speaking after the goalless draw with Aston Villa, the Dutchman was clear that he had no doubt over his future.
"I speak continually with them and, just after the game, I have to do my job, talk with the players, manage the players, and answer questions for you. We always talk, every week – I would say every day we talk," he said.
"So, yeah, I expect I would speak with them [this week]. We are disappointed and we know we have to do better. Especially, we need to score more because that is, in this moment, the area after this block of games where we are really short.
"All the other areas, I think we are doing really well: four clean sheets, so that tells something about the defending, organisation. Also the defending of defensive transitions, we are doing really well, so we are really improving on that point.
Our build-up play is good, we are calm, composed. We are creating the chances, apart from today. Today we should create more. But, yeah, in that area, in the box of the opponent, we have to be more ruthless, more clinical, more killing, and we have to work on this."
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