Luis Enrique, Cristiano Ronaldo’s choice to succeed Ole Gunnar Solskjaer as head coach of Manchester United, is reportedly open to taking over for Antonio Conte at Tottenham Hotspur.
The Italian coach hasn’t signed a new contract in 2017 and could leave Spurs this summer as a free agent. The Times says that Enrique is willing to talk to the club’s top brass if Conte leaves.
According to the Mirror, when Solskjaer was fired in November 2021, Cristiano Ronaldo wanted the Spanish manager to take over. All things being equal, the club picked to select Ralf Rangnick as interval chief prior to delegating Erik ten Witch the previous summer.
The Portuguese icon may not have been pleased with the decision. A year later, in an explosive interview with Piers Morgan, he slammed Ten Hag and Rangnick. The player left the club in November by mutual consent as a result of this.
Enrique was still in charge of Spain when the Norwegian manager was fired. Following La Roja’s round-of-16 loss to Morocco in the 2022 FIFA World Cup, he resigned in December and is now a free agent.
Spurs will look for a manager who is committed to promoting young players and plays attacking football if Conte leaves. With Spain, Enrique favored the latter most, trusting young players like Ansu Fati (20), Pedri (20), Gavi (18), and Ferran Torres (23) among others.
He managed Barcelona from 2014 to 2017 and won the treble with the Catalan giants in the 2014-15 season before joining La Roja.
Luis Enrique’s reaction to Cristiano Ronaldo’s abrupt departure from Manchester United:
Luis Enrique, who was in charge of Spain at the time, was taken aback when Cristiano Ronaldo abruptly left Manchester United in November.
The Portugal international was dismayed by the fact that he only started four league games for the Red Devils under manager Erik ten Hag. He was forced to leave because of that and the absence of UEFA Champions League games.
Enrique stated in an interview with Mundo Deportivo while Spain was competing in the World Cup:
“I’ve seen Cristiano at dinner and am surprised by his departure from United. However, I am unable to evaluate because I lack all of the information. It would be nice if Cristiano Ronaldo and United spoke up.”
On November 22, Manchester United made it clear that Cristiano Ronaldo had left by mutual consent. However, it cannot be denied that the interview he gave with Piers Morgan convinced the Red Devils to let the Portuguese center forward go.