René Hake, the head coach of Go Ahead Eagles, and Ruud van Nistelrooy are both now in talks to join Erik ten Hag’s backroom staff at Manchester United.
Current assistants Steve McClaren and Mitchell van der Gaag, as well as forwards coach Benni McCarthy, face an uncertain summer as part of the Ineos-led overhaul.
Both Hake and Van Nistelrooy are well-known to Ten Hag and would be popular recruitments given their first team managerial pedigree in recent seasons.
Hake, 52, worked previously at FC Twente’s academy with Ten Hag, while both have managed Go Ahead Eagles and Utrecht. A possible Old Trafford return for former striker Van Nistelrooy first emerged on Monday. Potential new recruits are being discussed as United make good progress with ten Hag over a contract extension.
“After our common period at Twente, we have always kept in touch. We meet up and call each other. You talk about private matters, how things are going at home and with the children,” Ten Hag said of Hake to Voetbal International last year.
“But usually it is about football. [At Twente] he was incredibly driven, ambitious, but also extremely convinced of himself. A trainer who worked very methodically.”
Where the potential addition of Van Nistelrooy would leave McCarthy, who is out of contract at the end of the month, and other figures such as Darren Fletcher remains to be seen.
Van der Gaag and McClaren currently serve as Ten Hag’s principal assistants and their positions would be in serious doubt if both Hake and Van Nistelrooy are brought in.
Hake is regarded as one of the most promising coaches in Holland, having last season led Go Ahead Eagles to a ninth-place finish in the Eredivisie.
Van Nistelrooy, who scored 150 goals in 219 games for United between 2001 and 2006, has spoken to Burnley about the vacant manager’s job at Turf Moor but the idea of a return to Old Trafford as part of Ten Hag’s staff is thought to hold particular appeal to the former United striker.