Former Bundesliga boss ’emerges as shock contender to replace Erik ten Hag’ as Man United continue to build managerial shortlist
- A shock name has emerged on Man United’s shortlist to replace Erik ten Hag
- The Dutchman has so far avoided the ax after a meeting between club officials
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A shock candidate has reportedly emerged for the role of Manchester United, should the club swing the ax with Erik ten Hag.
The Dutchman has suffered United’s worst ever start to a Premier League season. The team is fourteenth with just eight points from seven games and is winless in their last five games in all competitions.
However, Ten Hag managed to avoid dismissal after senior United officials held a six-hour meeting at minority owner Sir Jim Ratcliffe’s INEOS headquarters last Tuesday.
But if the Red Devils’ form continues to falter once club football resumes after the international break, United could be faced with a tough choice.
Several names have been linked with the vacancy should Ten Hag be given his marching orders, including former Bayern Munich manager Thomas Tuchel and ex-Chelsea boss Graham Potter.
Manchester United boss Erik ten Hag has overseen the club’s worst ever start to the season
United minority owner Sir Jim Ratcliffe has so far avoided giving the Dutchman the axe
But Ten Hag could hand Ratcliffe an easy decision if United’s form continues
Gareth Southgate was another option mooted as an option, but he recently stated he would not return to a managerial role until next year.
However, The Sun reports this a fresh name has entered the mix in the form of Edin Terzic.
Terzic has been out of work since leaving Borussia Dortmund on his own accord in June after leading the German giants to the Champions League final.
The 41-year-old, who earned his coaching badges alongside Potter and Red Devils icon Nemanja Vidic, first joined Dortmund in 2010 as a scout and assistant coach.
He left in 2013 to work as an assistant for Slaven Bilic at Besiktas and followed the Croatian to West Ham United in 2015.
Terzic returned to Dortmund in 2018 as assistant coach for their first team, but was thrust into the spotlight as interim manager for the remainder of the season in December 2020 after Lucien Favre was sacked.
He helped Dortmund win the DFB-Pokal with a 4–1 victory over RB Leipzig in the final, but was replaced by Marco Rose as Terzic took on the role of technical director instead.
But Terzic swapped the desk for the dugout again when he was appointed as the club’s new manager when Rose left after just one season.
Former Dortmund manager Edin Terzic has emerged as a shock candidate for United’s role
Terzic is a free agent who left Dortmund in June after the Champions League final
He has already had a taste of England after working as Slaven Bilic’s assistant at West Ham
In his first full season with Dortmund, Terzic lost the Bundesliga title to Bayern Munich due to goal difference, but in the 2024–25 season he dropped to fifth place.
He made the shock decision to leave Dortmund almost two weeks after the Champions League final, saying he believed ‘the club’s new era should start with a new man on the sidelines’.
Nuri Sahin, who played more than 270 games for Dortmund as a player, took over from Terzic in the summer and returned as an assistant for the first time in December 2023.
Under Sahin, Dortmund are seventh in the Bundesliga with ten points from six games, but are first in the Champions League after beating Celtic 7-1 and Club Brugge 3-0.
