“Am I really experiencing this?”: PL boss reveals being interviewed for United job in Sir Jim’s garage

Manchester United owner Sir Jim Ratcliffe reportedly held a meeting with a Premier League manager in his garage least year. State of flux Since Ineos took control of football operations at the club, there have been sweeping changes made to almost every department. This also involves the manager as Erik ten Hag was finally sacked in October 2024 and replaced by Ruben Amorim. Ten Hag made it to October but he was almost sacked in the early part of the summer after poor league performances. Nonetheless, he ultimately survived owing to the fact he won the FA Cup against Manchester City. The former Brighton and Hove Albion manager Roberto De Zerbi was high up on United’s list of potential Ten Hag replacements but he rejected the club as he wanted more control over transfers. Thomas Frank The former Brentford manager who joined Tottenham Hotspur this summer was reportedly another target for Ineos to replace Ten Hag in the summer of 2024. TV2 (via The Manchester Evening News) report, “Sir Jim Ratcliffe reportedly held talks with Thomas Frank in the summer of 2024 about the prospect of becoming Manchester United boss.” It is stated that, “United held talks with Frank about the prospect of becoming the club’s new manager. This, the report claims, took place on May 24 last year, the day before United beat Manchester City in the FA Cup final at Wembley Stadium.” The reports claim that Frank was interviewed in Ratcliffe’s garage in his home in London. Moreover, “Frank had another interview on the same day, where he tried to get the Chelsea manager’s job.” Commenting on the experience in an interview with TV2 Frank claimed, “I know I didn’t get either job, but it was still huge. I remember walking through Battersea Park between the two interviews and thinking: ‘Thomas Frank from f****** Frederiksværk – am I really experiencing this?’” United would finally persevere with Ten Hag until sacking the Dutchman on the 29th October after a 1-2 defeat to West Ham United. Featured images Alex Pantling via Getty Images – The Peoples Person has been one of the world’s leading Man United news sites for over a decade. Follow us on Bluesky: @peoplesperson.bsky.social Alex Browne Alex is a huge Manchester United fan, inspired by greats of his homeland such as George Best, Harry Gregg and Norman Whiteside. Alex has a Master’s degree from Queen’s University Belfast and La Universitat Rovira i Virgili in Tarragona, Spain. Having lived in the country since 2011, Alex is The Peoples Person’s Spanish football expert and is fluent in both Spanish and Catalan. He dreams of witnessing a United captain triumphantly hoisting the Premier League and Champions League trophy in the air once more.