Sir Jim Ratcliffe’s secret reason for meeting Thomas Tuchel for Man Utd job

Manchester United are interested in Thomas Tuchel becoming the next manager at Old Trafford, and reports state that Sir Jim Ratcliffe spoke to the Bayern Munich boss.

Now, of course, United have been linked to multiple different managers in recent weeks, and other journalists have denied that contact has been made between the club and the German manager.

However, with Tuchel leaving Bayern Munich in the summer, it is certainly a possibility that he could join the Old Trafford club if the INEOS leadership decide to part ways with Erik ten Hag.

And various reports have clarified that there is an appreciation there from Sir Jim Ratcliffe’s side.

Whilst Dan Ashworth and Omar Berrada are not yet at the club in an official capacity, there could be one large reason why Ratcliffe and his team are keen on Tuchel as a potential option.

One of the main aspects of change that INEOS are looking to make at Old Trafford is the role of the manager – whether that be Ten Hag, Tuchel or someone else.

Rather than having a larger involvement outside of the pitch, the new leadership at the club want the man in charge to be a head coach and have limited involvement elsewhere.

Since taking over the club, Ten Hag has tried to balance many different aspects. Meanwhile, Sir Alex Ferguson was in charge of everything at Old Trafford.

However, limiting the coach’s responsibilities and bringing in the likes of Ashworth and Jason Wilcox to handle many of the important things behind the scenes seems to be a popular move.

And despite the different potential concerns over Tuchel as a manager, this is exactly how he wants to work and that could be a good sign in the mind of Ratcliffe.

Chelsea journalist Liam Twomey previously explained this when discussing the German’s exit from the London-based club.

“Tuchel didn’t particularly love being thrust into a much more central role in Chelsea’s recruitment,” he told The Athletic in September 2022.

“When Tuchel came to Chelsea, one of the things that he really liked was that it was an elite club and everything was set up to win, but it was also set up for him to just coach.

“He had that structure above him. He had a very good relationship with Petr Cech, who played a huge role in getting him to the club in the first place.

“But he also had a very productive relationship with Marina Granovskaia, and I think the departures of those two, particularly Cech, (played a part in his Chelsea exit)

“I mean Tuchel did not miss an opportunity in the last few weeks to talk about, to bring the conversation back to how much he enjoyed working with Cech, and it felt quite pointed.”

Whilst Tuchel might not become the boss at Old Trafford, there are certainly understandable links being made and it appears that he ticks one of the biggest boxes that INEOS are looking for.

Ten Hag has an FA Cup final to prepare for, but if the Dutchman is sacked, Ratcliffe and co will almost certainly be looking to bring someone who has the same preferences as Tuchel in terms of the role he wants to have.