'There's no negatives about it' - Zinedine Zidane backed to 'inspire' Man Utd's underperforming stars as ex-Red Devils striker calls for 'fantastic' Frenchman to replace Erik ten Hag

A second straight FA Cup final appearance might not be reportedly enough to save Ten Hag's job if United fail to secure a European spot for the next campaign. Although the manager remains adamant that he "brings out the maximum" from his players, the level of football has been far from convincing - especially against Coventry in the FA Cup semi-finals where they blew up a 3-0 lead and had to rely on penalties to crawl over the line.

Several candidates have been linked to the Old Trafford hot seat, including current Bayern Munich manager Thomas Tuchel, who allegedly remains eager to make a return to the Premier League. However, former United striker Saha wants to see Zidane take charge if Ten Hag is forced out at the end of the campaign.

In an interview with Betfred, Saha said: "For a few years I’ve said that Zidane would be a fantastic appointment for the club. There’s no negatives about it. We all know that his dream job is with the French national team, but we don’t know if he may have to wait a while for that position to become available.

“He can speak a bit of English, so that would be helpful. I don’t see anything that goes against him being Manchester United manager. He would definitely inspire the players to be more confident at the highest level and everybody admires him for what he’s done as a player and as a manager, so that’s certainly an advantage he’s got. It would be a massive achievement for Manchester United to have Zinedine Zidane as their manager.”

Zidane has never managed another club outside of Real Madrid, where he set an incredible record of winning the Champions League in three successive editions. The World Cup winner had been approached previously by United following Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s sacking but he chose to turn them down.

"Would I want to go to Manchester [United]? I understand English, but I’m not completely fluent in it," Zidane has previously told L’Equipe.

"I know that there are coaches who go to clubs without speaking the language, but I work in a different way. Many elements come into play in order to win, it is a global context. I know what I need to win."

Ten Hag potentially has seven matches to save his skin at United, including an FA Cup final against eternal rivals Manchester City on May 25. The Dutch tactician must string together a winning run at the business end of the campaign to finish as high as possible in the league table, starting with a fixture against Sheffield United on Wednesday evening.