Marotta & Conte to replace Woodward & Mourinho at Manchester United? — report

José Mourinho is now two months into his third season at Manchester United, and things are truly beginning to fall apart. Given his history, this should surprise no one, though that doesn’t make it any less entertaining. Having experienced it first hand — twice even! — some might even consider it cathartic.

There is one potential drawback to all this however. As the richest team in the world, United will not stand idly by. They will throw money at the problem, and empower whoever ends up in charge to craft a winning team. Whether it’s Mourinho, Woodward, or both who end getting the boot remains to be seen, but rumors of replacements are starting to spin up in earnest.

One seemingly well-timed development has been the announced departure of Juventus sporting director Beppe Marotta, who will not be offered a new contract as part of a behind-the-scenes restructuring at The Old Lady. Marotta has already said that he will be looking to join a new club, and he will certainly have no shortage of suitors. Manchester United seems like an obvious destination.

But that may not be the extent of changes at United. Rumors today from Italy talk of a potential reunion between Antonio Conte and Marotta at Old Trafford. Conte famously fell out with Marotta over transfers to bring an end to their time together at Juventus, but transfer budgets are certainly not something that would be a problem at United. Incidentally, those appointments would probably make Paul Pogba pretty happy, too.

Conte is currently unemployed and fighting for his severance package from Chelsea through the courts; finding a new job in football management could help bring about a speedy resolution to both of those issues.

This may be nothing more than idle chatter of course, but here’s a serendipitous little tidbit. The author of the Corriere dello Sport story that Football Italia and all the rest seem to be picking up is none other than Alfredo Pedullà, the Oracle of Sarri.

Dun-dun-DUN.