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Football London
Football London
Sport
Bobby Vincent

Antonio Conte to Man Utd: Where former Chelsea boss and Tottenham target ranks among favourites

Antonio Conte is the bookies' third favourite to become the next permanent manager of Manchester United, with Ole Gunnar Solskjaer under increasing pressure.

That pressure has massively ramped up on Solskjaer after his United team were thumped 5-0 by Liverpool on Sunday afternoon, with the majority of the home support at Old Trafford booing the side off as they walked into the tunnel 4-0 down at the half-time break.

After the game, Solskjaer admitted it was his "darkest day" in charge of the Manchester-based club, but also insisted he was the right man to lead them forward in the future.

There are already being names linked with the United job, and there has been for a while, despite Solskjaer being adamant that he is the right man for the role.

One of those names being linked is Conte, formerly of Chelsea and someone that was wanted by Tottenham over the summer before Nuno Espirito Santo was appointed as boss.

The Italian coach, who was last at Inter Milan before leaving the Serie A champions in the summer, spent two years in charge of Chelsea and, in that time, he guided the Blues to the Premier League title in the 2016/17 season.

Antonio Conte (Mattia Ozbot/Soccrates/Getty Images)

However, the 52-year-old coach departed Stamford Bridge in 2018 and was appointed as Inter boss a year later.

After his spell at Inter, Conte was strongly linked with the Tottenham job after Jose Mourinho left the club, but negotiations collapsed between Spurs and the Italian despite the interest.

Now, with Conte still without a job in football, he is one of the most exciting managers on the market and is 11/2 to become the next Manchester United boss (via OddsChecker).

The only two names ahead of Conte are Leicester City manager Brendan Rodgers and former Real Madrid boss Zinedine Zidane, who are 5/1 and 3/1, respectively.

Other name on the bookmakers' list are Mauricio Pochettinho (6/1), Cristiano Ronaldo (16/1), Erik ten Hag (16/1), Julen Lopetegui (20/1), Massimiliano Allegri (20/1), and many more.

Despite Conte being one of the favourites for the United job, club legend Peter Schmeichel does not believe he is the right man for the role.

He told The Times, via the Manchester Evening News: "You can say, 'Conte is brilliant', but he doesn't stay anywhere for more than a couple of years.

"We are not that football club. We tried that already. It doesn't work. Louis van Gaal didn't win the Premier League, Mourinho didn't. You say Conte or another name, it's no difference.

"It's about them and what they want to do in a small window of Manchester United's big history.

"The problem Ole has is that in this world of quick fixes and fast news he has to win yesterday.

"It has to be delivered now. But it's not the real world. We stopped that development for a period and our competitors closed the gap then ran away."

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