Manchester United are seventh place in the Premier League. Their best player, Robin van Persie, is back to battling injuries on a weekly basis, Wayne Rooney is on ridiculous wages, they don’t have a central midfield, all of their defenders are either aging or incompetent and they will not be in the Champions League next season.
Klopp, Simeone would jump at the chance to manage Manchester United
Just because Manchester United are out of Champions League doesn’t mean they’re not one of the most attractive jobs in world football.
Dennis Grombkowski
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But don’t think for a second that Diego Simeone, Jürgen Klopp or just about any other manager wouldn’t jump at the chance to manage the Red Devils.
Nobody would argue that Manchester United are in a good place at the moment. Whether you want to blame David Moyes, Sir Alex Ferguson, Ed Woodward, the Glazers or anyone else, there is no doubt that the club is in the worst position that they have been in decades. But they are still Manchester United.
The Red Devils still have incredible revenues. The Red Devils still have the most titles in Premier League history. The Red Devils still have Old Trafford. The Red Devils still have a worldwide brand.
Whoever takes over at Old Trafford will have at least £60 million to spend, and then he’ll have that again the following summer and the summer after that. He’ll also be at club that doesn’t have to sell its best players, which seems like a given, but there are only a handful of clubs that can say the same.
Ask yourself this: at which club is a manager more likely to win the Champions League, Manchester United or Borussia Dortmund? How about Atlético Madrid?
Next season, the obvious answer is Dortmund and Atléti. After all, Manchester United won’t get the chance, but after that? Dortmund were outclassed by Bayern Munich and lost Roberto Lewandowski to the defending European champions, a year after seeing Mario Gotze go to the Allianz. Atletico Madrid are into the semifinals this season, but they still have to get past Chelsea -- the team most expect to buy Diego Costa from them this summer and possibly recall Thibaut Courtois -- then Real Madrid or Bayern Munich.
It takes a near perfect season to win the Champions League at Borussia Dortmund or Atlético Madrid, and when that all comes together, they will still likely fall short, as BVB did last season. And their reward for it? To have their team raided the following summer.
But Manchester United can be on the same level as Bayern Munich, Chelsea or Real Madrid. They can be the team buying Mario Götze or Diego Costa, and Lewandowski wouldn’t have left Manchester United.
If the Red Devils make the right hire this season and give him money to splurge this summer, and without European football to occupy their time, United could be challenging the top of the league next season. They could be right back in the Champions League by 2015-16 and maybe with some added silverware, plus another summer of spending to strengthen their team.
And just in case history, trophies and an entire world of adoring fans don’t do the trick, there’s the money. Moyes is already the seventh best-paid manager in the world and his replacement could easily end up making upwards of £10 million annually, at least trebling what Atlético and Dortmund pay, if not more.
Tell me then, why wouldn’t Simeone or Klopp want the Manchester United job?
