Why Man Utd are taking their time over manager decision

The other major reason to delay a decision is because a number of potential candidates who are currently in jobs will become available.

In the Premier League alone that includes Oliver Glasner, who has already said he will be leaving Crystal Palace, Bournemouth's Andoni Iraola and Fulham's Silva.

Yet Glasner is an example of how short-term results can affect long-term thinking.

A Europa League winner at Eintracht Frankfurt, he won Palace the first silverware in their history when they beat Manchester City in last season's FA Cup final. They also won the Community Shield against Liverpool.

But things have unravelled this season.

Glasner left key players out of Palace's final Conference League game in December. A home draw with Finland's KuPS meant Palace missed out on direct entry to the last 16 and must play Bosnian outfit Zrinjski in the play-offs later this month.

The KuPS game was in the early part of an ongoing run of 12 games without a win.

The eight defeats in that sequence include an embarrassing FA Cup loss at National League North outfit Macclesfield. Palace are 15th in the Premier League - nine points above third-bottom West Ham - and it is not certain Glasner will see out the season.

Then there are the international managers.

England boss Thomas Tuchel spoke to United before and after the 2024 FA Cup final as the club deliberated about Erik ten Hag's future. United have also long been linked with Mauricio Pochettino, who is in charge of the US national side.

That duo, plus Carlo Ancelotti (Brazil) and Julian Nagelsmann (Germany), are other highly regarded coaches likely to be on United's radar.

But hiring a national team boss around a major tournament is fraught with issues.

In 1990, England boss Bobby Robson was referred to by some as a "traitor" for agreeing a post-tournament contract with PSV Eindhoven, even though he had been pilloried for the previous two years.

Julen Lopetegui was sacked by Spain two days before the start of the 2018 World Cup after Real Madrid confirmed he would join them after the tournament.

Speaking to a source with first-hand knowledge of appointing managers and coaches at club and international level, it became clear signing a contract with the likes of Tuchel before the tournament is not advisable.

"Even if there are private conversations between senior club representatives and a coach at a major country, there is no way that can become a formal agreement pre-World Cup," they said.

"If it came out, it would balloon in the face of whichever coach it was. It would be massively destabilising. It's just not worth it.

"You can have discreet meetings - they happen all the time in football - but it would be much more beneficial to do groundwork.

"There are a few issues anyway. If they agreed privately with someone at the end of April, what would happen if Michael Carrick had a fantastic end to the season? Depending on how the World Cup went - good or bad - you must think of the impact it might have on reputation.

"Manchester United have to let it breathe a little bit."