Mauricio Pochettino remains in contact with Manchester United star Luke Shaw after their days together at Southampton and with growing calls for the Argentinian to be appointed as Red Devils boss.
Pochettino is in charge at Paris Saint-Germain, while United have Ralf Rangnick as interim manager, but it is increasingly unlikely that the German will be in the dugout next season.
While Ajax boss Erik ten Hag remains in the frame to take the Old Trafford job, reports suggest that the United players are keen on Pochettino.
That feeling will be helped by Shaw, with the Manchester Evening News reporting that the England full-back remains in contact with his former manager.
The former Argentina defender took his first job in England with the Saints in January 2013 and enjoyed a successful stint in charge before moving to Tottenham in May the following year.
Shaw was with him at Southampton and left for Manchester United the same summer, but almost eight years later the pair remain in contact and it appears that Shaw would like to work with his former manager again.
It remains to be seen whether the Manchester United squad will get the new manager they want, with Pochettino under contract at PSG for another year and the French club reportedly not responding well to previous approaches.
MEN report that United made enquiries for Pochettino in November when they got rid of Ole Gunnar Solskjaer, but PSG ‘played hardball’ over the approach.
Rangnick is set to take on his consultancy role at Old Trafford at the end of the season and the Sun report that the German’s preferred choice to replace him as manager is Ten Hag.
Like Pochettino, the Ajax boss is under contract in his current role until 2023.