Manchester United will never attract a genuinely elite manager under the current ownership because the structure simply won’t accommodate one.
Conte and Emery are the two outstanding candidates for me, but both would demand significant control over recruitment, squad development and footballing decisions.
United’s hierarchy wants a head coach, not a manager. Someone to coach the players they’re given rather than dictate the direction of the club.
But Manchester United isn’t a club you can run by committee while holding one man responsible for the results.
Fundamentally the owners want elite management without surrendering the authority elite management requires.
And if the structure keeps failing, who exactly is accountable?
I genuinely don’t know where United go from here.