Graham Potter now in direct competition with Man Utd boss Ten Hag for huge job after surprising chief executive

Graham Potter is ready to return to management after his Chelsea nightmare and has become a rival to Manchester United boss Erik ten Hag for a big job, a report has revealed.

Potter has been revealed as a contender to replace Ten Hag at Manchester United if, as TEAMtalk expects, Sir Jim Ratcliffe decides to change who their manager is. It would be a return to the touchline for the former Swansea and Brighton boss, who hasn’t managed anyone else since Chelsea sacked him about a year ago.

However, Man Utd are not the only club who could offer Potter a route back into football. Intriguingly, it has now emerged that he is a candidate for Ajax, who have also been named as Ten Hag’s potential next employers.

Ajax are currently being managed on an interim basis by John van ‘t Schip until the end of the season. They will appoint a new permanent manager in the summer once chief executive Alex Kroes has whittled down his shortlist.

That list already includes Ten Hag but now has Potter on it too, according to the Daily Mirror.

The report claims Kroes has been pleasantly surprised to learn that Potter would be interested in the Ajax vacancy. They could become the second club he has managed abroad after previously taking Ostersund from the Swedish fourth tier to the Europa League.

Ajax have already decided against paying compensation for any manager. The fact that Potter is still unemployed could work in his favour.

Leading contender for Ajax job revealed

However, the leading contender to take the Ajax post remains Pep Lijnders, who will step down from his role as Liverpool’s assistant manager at the same time as Jurgen Klopp’s resignation as manager in the summer.

Lijnders might be the most realistic option, but even Ten Hag – who has of course managed Ajax before, even taking them to the Champions League semi-finals – could be available without needing to pay compensation if Man Utd dismiss him.

Therefore, Kroes has a solid shortlist of three targets to work through. With Potter now in contention, it isn’t guaranteed that the chosen one will be another Dutchman.

Every Ajax manager in the 21st Century has come from the Netherlands. The last foreign incumbent was the Danish Marten Olsen until 1998.

In earlier years of their history, seven of the first 10 Ajax managers were English, but Potter would be the first since Vic Buckingham left way back in 1965.

But Kroes has had English football in his mind while conducting the first stages of Ajax’s managerial search and could even turn to someone specifically from England like Potter.

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