Manchester United willing to pay word-record fee for top target

Manchester United are willing to shell out a world-record fee to prise top target Mauricio Pochettino from Tottenham in the summer, claims The Daily Telegraph.

The Premier League giants sacked Jose Mourinho at the start of the week and have placed club icon Ole Gunnar Solksjaer in interim charge until the summer.

United chief executive Ed Woodward will spend the next six months re-structuring the club and nailing down their next permanent manager.

United’s next full-time manager will be the fourth one Woodward has appointed since Sir Alex Ferguson retired in 2013.

David Moyes, Louis Van Gaal and now Mourinho all failed to fire United back to the summit of English football and it's vital Woodward gets the next appointment right.

Former Real Madrid manager Zinedine Zidane has been heavily linked with the Old Trafford hot seat but Pochettino is reportedly the club’s top target.

Pochettino only signed a new long-term deal in May but is reportedly open to the idea of managing United and the Red Devils have not been put off by potentially having to pay as much as £42m to prise him from his Tottenham contract.

The 46-year-old is regarded as one of the best young coaches in the world but he has been criticised for the fact he has not won any silverware since becoming Tottenham manager in May 2014.

Tottenham beat arch rivals Arsenal in the Carabao Cup quarter-finals on Wednesday to set up a last four tie against Chelsea and Pochettino has won 57% of his matches as Tottenham manager in all competitions.