After a devastating Europa League final defeat to Spurs, many thought that Sir Jim Ratcliffe and the Glazers would pull the trigger on Ruben Amorim. Missing out on a major trophy capped off what had already been a disastrous season, with United finishing 15th in the Premier League while crashing out of all the major cups. However, the board ultimately made the call to give Amorim more time, at least for now.
The plan is simple: Amorim gets a full pre-season, signs a few players, and has a fair crack of the whip for the 25-26 season. It’s a bold move, but signals a rare show of patience at Old Trafford that we’ve not seen for a long time. Let’s not forget the club is trying to distance itself from the “sack and replace” culture that’s plagued the club since Sir Alex Ferguson left — and you can bet it’s been driven by Jim Ratcliffe, who’s made it clear he wants to change how the club operates from top to bottom.
Interestingly, though, United sort of tried the same thing with Erik Ten Hag last season. He was also given a second chance by the Glazers but found himself thrown out the door just a couple months later, so there’s every chance in the world that Amorim will suffer the same fate, with a growing number of managers already being added to his list of potential replacements.
If Amorim does get off to a rocky start come August, these are some of the big-name managers that could be on their way to Old Trafford sooner than you think. 

Next Man Utd Manager Odds: 2025-26 Season

All the bookies, including BetFred and LadBrokes, have Oliver Glasner as the odds-on favourite to be the next Manchester United manager following a potential Amorim sacking. You may be able to get boosts and enhanced odds when using these betting apps recommended on BettingTools, Other names on the table include Gareth Southgate and Mauricio Pochettino — who’ve both been linked with the job for years now — along with Kieran McKenna, Thomas Frank, Unai Emery, and the legendary Zinedine Zidane. Even though the glory days of Alex Ferguson are long gone, the job remains one of the biggest in world football — and any one of these managers could be in the Old Trafford dugout as soon as the festive period.

Oliver Glasner: 9/2

Crystal Palace manager Oliver Glasner remains the current favourite to be next Manchester United boss. Since taking over from Roy Hodgson at Palace, the Austrian has guided what was a club in crisis to an incredible FA Cup — the club’s first ever major trophy — while once again solidifying Palace as a respected Premier League outlet. Glasner has also devised an excellent system to match his attacking trio of Eze, Ismaila Sarr and Mateta, so it’s smiles all around. Keep in mind, Glasner has achieved all of this despite only having one full season in charge. And with the 50-year-old currently holding off on signing a new deal with Palace until he’s confident the board will back him in the transfer market, there’s a strong chance the Glazers and Jim Ratcliffe will swoop in.

Gareth Southgate: 5/1

When Gareth Southgate was still England manager, he kept being linked with the Manchester United job. Then, once Erik Ten Hag was booted out the door last year, the general expectation was that Southgate would be the one to step in now that he’d left the England post. After all, Jim Ratcliffe is said to be a big admirer of his. However, United fans made it perfectly clear on social media that appointing Southgate was far from what they wanted, which the board were almost certainly made aware of. The club opted to go with Amorim instead — but with the Portuguese manager expected to struggle again next season, Southgate is likely ready and waiting in the wings. The style of football wouldn’t be exciting, that’s for sure. In the club’s time of need, though, Southgate is one of the best suited managers to rejuvenate the squad, tighten up the defense, and get players smiling again, so don’t be too surprised if he’s brought in. 

Mauricio Pochettino: 15/2

Just like Gareth Southgate, “Poch” has been linked with the United job for a long time, too. In fact, even longer than Southgate, with Pochettino reportedly close to joining United as far back as 2016. He’s the one that got away. However, despite currently being manager of the United States men’s national team heading into the 2026 World Cup, never say never when it comes to a potential Poch and United partnership. Once the World Cup is wrapped up, a contract might finally be put on the table for Poch if United are once again searching for a new manager — and most Red Devils supporters would get behind it.

Kieran McKenna: 8/1

When Kieran McKenna was assistant at Manchester United during the days of Jose Mourinho, Ole Gunnar Solskjaer and Ralf Rangnick, most fans barely even knew his name. So when he eventually left a few years ago, nobody even reacted. Ironically, McKenna then quickly made a name for himself at Ipswich, earning back-to-back promotions with the club to take them all the way to the Premier League. Now he meant business. And even though Ipswich have sadly just been relegated from the Premier League following a tough season, McKenna is still highly-rated by various club owners (including the United board). It’s a bit of a long shot, but crazier things have happened, and the fact McKenna has history at United could work in his favour.

Thomas Frank: 8/1

Thomas Frank has done a superb job at Brentford. The club is now a solid mid-table Premier League side that plays excellent football week in, week out. Sure, Brentford won’t be winning a trophy any time soon, but that shouldn’t undermine just how good Frank has been during his 7-year stint there. It’s quite surprising that Frank himself hasn’t been tempted away by a bigger club, as there’s definitely been some sniffing around. One club rumoured to be linked with him in the past was Manchester United, who are reportedly still interested in Frank to this day. It would certainly be a gamble for United to go with such an unconventional manager, but if anyone deserves a shot at taking over a Big Six club to prove what they can do, it’s Thomas Frank.

Unai Emery: 11/1

Unai Emery is widely regarded as one of the best managers in Europe. His reputation took a nasty hit following a short stint at Arsenal all those years ago, but hugely successful spells with Villarreal and now Aston Villa have once again solidified Emery’s name among Europe’s elite managers. Emery has transformed Villa into a tactically disciplined, high-pressing side that nobody is guaranteed to beat, while also guiding them to an impressive run in the Champions League. And despite failing to qualify for the UCL next season, Emery will be hungry for a top 4 finish and domestic trophy, so don’t be surprised to see him push Villa to the limit and gain some interest from Manchester United and other big clubs.

Zinedine Zidane: 15/1

Since Zidane left Real Madrid 4 years ago, his name has persistently been linked with Manchester United. When you talk about big-name managers, it doesn’t get much bigger than Zidane, so there’s an argument to be made that there’s no club more suitable for him than United. Zidane, however, is extremely selective with what projects he takes on, so the lack of solid foundation at United means he’s light-years away from joining them. When you consider the fact that Zidane has also reportedly turned down a €100m one-year contract from the Saudi Pro, there’s probably no money in the world Jim Ratcliffe could offer to tempt him over to Manchester. 

Amorim Latest Sack Odds

When it comes to Amorim’s future and not the potential managers who could replace him, bookies like William Hill have released special odds. Currently, Amorim has 1/9 odds to be Manchester United manager come the first game of the 25/26 season and 2/7 odds to be manager on Christmas Day. Simply put, nobody knows how his United squad is going to perform once the season officially starts. Whether we see an impressive turnaround or more of the same is up in the air — but bookie odds ultimately show there’s not much confidence in Amorim.

Amorim Gets Major Boost By Convincing Bruno Fernandes to Stay

Of course, there’s nothing to say that Ruben Amorim won’t have a storming season at Manchester United once August arrives. He’s definitely been given a major boost by convincing Bruno Fernandes to stay at the club, who was extremely close to making a big-money move to the Saudi Pro League. If one thing is true about Manchester United, it’s that they need Fernandes more than anyone, with the Portuguese midfielder being key to United both on and off the field. Now that he’s agreed to stay, Amorim at least has the leader he wants, so it’s now a case of signing some players and finally perfecting his favourted  3-4-2-1 formation with the squad he’s got.

Summary

Who knows what’s in store for Ruben Amorim and Manchester United when the 25/26 season arrives. It’s going to be a busy summer in the build up. That’s for sure.
Amorim has got to land some key signings if he wants to keep his job. At the same time, the 40-year-old manager will also have to make big calls regarding the futures of Marcus Rashford, Jadon Sancho, and several others, so he won’t be getting much sleep over the coming months.
Come August, if Amorim can somehow turn this ship around, it would be impressive. The Glazers and Jim Ratcliffe deserve some credit, too, as there aren’t many other boards out there that would have given Amorim another chance following such poor domestic form last season, which saw United somehow finish 15th, the club’s lowest league position since 1990.