The dominoes had been set off by De Zerbi’s departure from Brighton, with McKenna under consideration there, too. United officials felt they might miss out on a candidate or two if they waited until after the FA Cup final on May 25, a week after the end of the Premier League season.
Thomas Frank was another under consideration at Chelsea, for example. He met United on the Friday. In February, Frank had dined with Ratcliffe, as well as Frank Lampard and Roy Hodgson, after the launch of the Grenadier Fusilier, an INEOS car, in London.
De Zerbi was initially sounded out that week. Marco Silva met face-to-face on Thursday, around the time Ten Hag was speaking to the media insisting he was planning for next season.
Pochettino, who Sir Alex Ferguson still champions, and Tuchel had meetings in London around the Wembley showpiece.
Other names were discussed. There were talks over Ruben Amorim, who has won two titles with Sporting Lisbon, but he did not make the final reckoning. Roberto Martinez was also considered in the early stages.
On the eve of the FA Cup final, amid reports of Ten Hag’s demise whatever the result, Brailsford told several people that no final decision had been taken. Despite the flurry of activity, that vow was correct.
Pochettino fell out of the thinking during the first week of June, but Tuchel made a real impression. He is said by those familiar with the process to have come across incredibly well in person, eventually leading to United discussing possible financial terms during a meeting in Monaco two weeks after the FA Cup final. But no agreement was reached and Tuchel stepped out of the process. He is now expected to take a break from football.
United representatives then also spoke about salary expectations with De Zerbi, but the fit did not seem right. Ultimately, INEOS weighed up whether any of these candidates would be an improvement on Ten Hag and they came back round to their original intention before that board meeting in Monaco.
INEOS weighed up two strands of thought: on the one hand,
looking into progressive coaches outperforming expectations at smaller clubs; on the other, high-calibre established managers who would feel at ease in the Old Trafford dugout.
Going for someone in the former category might prompt disappointment in fans but tap into a world-class talent on the way up; the latter would help to attract signings but also bring greater personal demands.
Whether Ratcliffe paid much credence to Infinite MUM is unclear, but INEOS started with a particular profile to target: young head coaches playing attractive football who would work in a structure. An ability to create a culture at the club was also high on the agenda, which is why Gareth Southgate had support from some within INEOS given his work with England.
Jimmy Worrall, who founded the networking group Leaders in Sport with Brailsford, was a facilitator of the meetings. Worrall has a long-standing relationship with Southgate.