Manchester United ‘made contact with’ Carlo Ancelotti to sound him out over replacing Louis van Gaal.
Ancelotti is back as a Premier League manager after being appointed at Everton, having been sacked by Chelsea eight years ago.
The Italian was also linked with Arsenal, while he was a candidate to take over at Liverpool at one stage.
But The Athletic say United were a possible destination ‘during one of the more traumatic periods’ under Van Gaal.
‘He has been searching for a return to English football,’ Boyland writes of the former Napoli manager.
‘His mind did wander to Arsenal, where he would have been keen on the job and he has also maintained contact with Manchester United officials over the years.
‘United’s executive vice-chairman Ed Woodward, for example, is understood to have made contact with Ancelotti during one of the more traumatic periods of Louis van Gaal’s reign as manager but the Italian spurned those advances.’
Ancelotti harboured hopes of ‘rebooting’ in the summer – and perhaps even replacing Ole Gunnar Solskjaer at United. The Norwegian is, after all, not very good.
‘More recently, Ancelotti suspected another chance may come around at United next summer but the continued support for Ole Gunnar Solskjaer has dimmed those aspirations,’ Boyland adds.
‘Even as early as the start of this week, sources close to Ancelotti were unconvinced he would really choose a club in need of a significant rebuild. He was aware of the interest [from Everton] but a firm offer had not been made and his Christmas plans were for a family break in Vancouver. Indeed, as of Monday afternoon, he still had his flight ticket for Canada ready to go.
‘Despite reports to the contrary, Ancelotti did not travel to Merseyside for talks on Monday. High-level meetings of this nature nearly always take place in London, where both Moshiri and Kenwright are based.’