According to The Athletic, United are ready to officially start the process of selecting a full manager, with four managers under consideration: Tenhag of Ajax, Pochettino of Paris Saint-Germain, Luis Henrique of the Spanish national team and Lopetegui of Sevilla.
Lonnick is currently United's interim manager, but his chances of regularisation are slim, with the German going to be the club's future senior football adviser and playing a role in the manager selection process. What Lonnick admires most at the moment is Tenhag, who is also from German football, who has coached the second team at Bayern Munich.
Tenhag has made Tadec, Daly Blind and other players who are struggling in other teams the team's stable main performance, in addition to being at the top of the Dutch League, but also in the Champions League group stage with a remarkable record of six consecutive wins. In particular, his coaching Ajax, who has scored 61 goals after 20 league rounds this season but conceded only five goals, playing the maximum strength of the players and the balanced style of attack and defense, make Tenhag look very suitable for the current situation of Manchester United. Previously, Tenhag once shelled Manchester United for not using the Van der Beek he bought from him, which was an "unforgivable sin".
Pochettino is a favourite on United's board, especially the legendary boss Verde, who has always been bullish on the Argentine's coaching ability. Moreover, he has led the team for many years at Tottenham hotter and Southampton, and has the most experience in the Premier League. But Pochettino also has problems managing his stars, with repeated rumours of discord among the likes of Messi, Neymar and Kylian Mbappe when he coaches The Paris.
Enrique was recognised by Manchester United's number one star, Cristiano Ronaldo, although in the past when the Portuguese superstar played for Real Madrid, Henrique's Barcelona were his mortal enemies and won the Treble in 2015, conquering Cristiano Ronaldo as the manager fit to help the Red Devils revive. However, the 2022 Qatar World Cup will not start until the end of this year, and It is unlikely that Enrique will abandon the Matadors in the summer to work for Manchester United, which is his disadvantage.
As for Lopetegui, he has led the team at Sevilla this season to force Real Madrid to prove himself again, but he is still the least optimistic among the new manager candidates of Manchester United, and the probability of winning the final selection is extremely low.
Manchester United will judge who is the best fit from a number of criteria, but the basic condition for the finalists is that they have coached the European giants, so all 4 of them have reached the standard. Tenhag worked for Bayern and then led Ajax to regain his Eredivisie title and reach the final four of the Champions League; pochettino led Tottenham Hotspur to the Champions League final, and it was only a matter of time before he led Paris to the Ligue 1 title this season; Enrique coached Barca to win the treble and led Spain to the final four of the European Cup; even Lopetegui has experience in leading Porto, Spain and Real Madrid.
Manchester United's new club president, Richard Arnold, will take office after 1 February, replacing the current executive vice-chairman Ed Woodward. But he will not be directly involved in the selection of the manager, football director John Mutav will lead the selection of the manager, and Arnold will only be responsible for submitting the final selection to the owner Glazer family for approval. Tenhag and Pochettino are still the two hottest candidates, and different fans have different preferences for them, and it is not yet known who United will choose to coach.