According to The Athletic, Manchester United twice turned down the opportunity to hire Graham Potter as head coach.
Graham Potter was on the list of candidates to be Manchester United’s next manager before Erik ten Hag was appointed, but the club decided against the now Chelsea manager.
The former Brighton manager was named as Thomas Tuchel’s replacement at Chelsea earlier this week after the German was surprisingly sacked by new club owner Todd Boehly.
Potter has established himself as one of the best managers in the country, attracting the interest of the best clubs in the country. In fact, United were emboldened to seek him out as manager twice as a result of his efforts on the south coast, once after the sacking of Ole Gunnar Solskjaer and again last season when they were looking for a permanent successor to caretaker manager Ralf Rangnick.
However, United turned down the opportunity to ‘have talks’ with the Englishman on both occasions. The reason given as reported by The Athletic is that Potter lacked Champions League experience. An odd reason considering they didn’t qualify for the Champions League last season.
Chelsea have clearly not been intimidated by his lack of experience in Europe’s top flight, handing him a five-year deal to shape the west London club’s long-term future.
The goal for this season is reportedly to finish in the top 4, but even if Potter fails to do so, his ‘job won’t be in jeopardy’ as long as things look positive on and off the pitch.
