EPL: Why Manchester United rejected appointing former Chelsea boss, Antonio Conte

Manchester United’s board rejected appointing former Chelsea boss, Antonio Conte as their manager over fears the current squad would not adapt to his style.

Before the sack of Ole Gunnar Solskjaer at the end of November, there were rumours that Conte was on his way to Old Trafford after a string of bad results from Solskjaer.

But instead, the Italian diverted to north London where he was appointed by Tottenham and has since then gone undefeated in the Premier League in his first eight games in charge.

United settled for German coach, Ralf Rangnick on an interim basis as they continue searching for a new permanent manager, who will be appointed in the summer.

While Tottenham are two points behind fourth-placed Arsenal in the league table, a defeat to Wolves last Monday meant that Rangnick’s United remained in seventh place.

Many fans have now questioned whether the club made a mistake in overlooking serial title winner, Conte when he was available.

Initially, it was said that Manchester United’s board feared that bringing in a manager as volatile and authoritarian as Conte would demand a massive overhaul of players in the transfer market.

Daily Mail now claims that the club’s hierarchy were actually concerned about how Conte’s management style would fit the existing players.

They worried that Conte’s precision and micro-coaching would be unsuited to the current squad.

The club’s board took a ‘long look’ at Conte, according to the report, and strongly believed the Italian is a great manager but only worried that his exacting standards and instructions would simply not mesh with the players.

The club felt the former Juventus, Chelsea and Inter Milan boss’s style relied too much on programming players to carry out specific instructions to minute details.

The board also fears that Manchester United lack leaders in the dressing room and plans to address that issue in the summer window.