Mauricio Pochettino to Man Utd has already been approved by key player

Manchester United left-back Luke Shaw has already spoken out about the possibility of playing under former manager Mauricio Pochettino again after the Argentinian left his role at Premier League rivals Chelsea on Tuesday night.

The ex-Blues boss saw his contract terminated via mutual consent after just 11 months at the helm at Stamford Bridge, despite guiding his side to a sixth-place finish and thus European football, on top of having led them to both the Carabao Cup final and FA Cup semi-final stage.

It’s understood that club chiefs, including co-owners Todd Boehly and Behdad Eghbali, held a meeting with Pochettino on Monday night and that he agreed to leave the club on Tuesday morning, with the Blues now set to look for a ‘younger manager’ with the likes of Ipswich Town boss and former Man United coach Kieran McKenna on the shortlist.

READ MORE: What Mauricio Pochettino said after missing out on Man United job to Erik ten Hag speaks volumes

READ MORE: Kieran McKenna breaks silence on Manchester United links amid Erik ten Hag speculation

However, Pochettino’s exit leaves a significant worry for current Red Devils boss Erik ten Hag, whose future at Old Trafford is by no means secure. With only the FA Cup final against rivals Manchester City left to play before the end of his second full campaign with the club, it’s the Manchester Evening News understands that new minority owner Sir Jim Ratcliffe isn’t fully sold on the Dutchman, although the club is working under the assumption Ten Hag will be in charge next season.

On Tuesday morning, Pochettino was as high as 20/1 to become the new United manager, but his odds were slashed in the evening with him now sat as the firm favourite amidst the likes of Thomas Tuchel, Roberto De Zerbi and Gareth Southgate.

United left-back Shaw has made his stance clear in the past about his relationship with Pochettino and his dream of working under the Argentinian again, the now-28-year-old having played under him at Southampton before Pochettino left St Mary’s to join Tottenham in May 2014, with Shaw moving to Manchester later that summer.

Writing in the epilogue of journalist Guillem Balague’s ‘Brave New World: Inside Pochettino’s Spurs’, Shaw effectively waxed lyrical about his time at the Saints with Pochettino, and revealed he still wishes to play for him one day. The United left-back wrote: “I think with Southampton he achieved the impossible. We were one of the best footballing teams in the league… I do hope that I can play for him again one day.

“I think he really wants me to play under him again. He used to call me his son, that’s how good our relationship was. I’ve had lots of ups and downs, but when I was with Pochettino it was only ever up, up, up. He made me feel that I was the best. He’d show me clips of my games and say, ‘You should do this better’. Not in a horrible way. Not I could have done better, but I should have done better, because he knows I can be better.”