If the chief executive officer at Old Trafford, Richard Arnold, is not paying close attention to any developments at Chelsea, he should be.
If Thomas Tuchel is not on Manchester United’s managerial radar, he should be.
Tuchel? Really? Seems more than a touch preposterous, at face value.
After winning the Champions League in his first season at Stamford Bridge, Tuchel signed a contract extension that ties him to Chelsea until 2024 and for which, of course, the German is very well remunerated.
But, of course, he signed that deal with Roman Abramovich’s Chelsea.
It is not going to be that for much longer.
In whose hands it is going to end up is anyone’s guess right now.
Initial talk of a queue of billionaire buyers seems to have quietened pretty quickly and you never know, it could yet end up in government hands.
But one thing is for sure, life is going to change at the Bridge.
Whoever owns the club - assuming a buyer actually comes forward in the coming months and assuming, in the meantime, the current proprietor continues to avoid sanctions - is unlikely to bankroll the sort of lavish spending sanctioned by Abramovich.
Clearly, there is going to be change in the executive echelons, where trusted Abramovich advisers, Bruce Buck and Marina Granovskaia, will surely be on their way.
Obviously, any new owner would be desperate for Tuchel to honour his contract. They would be foolish not to.
He is a proven winner and has made a huge impression during his time in England.
He has already demonstrated that he is one of the few who can go toe-to-toe with Jurgen Klopp and Pep Guardiola, who he outwitted in the Champions League final.
Indeed, while it is the most outrageous of long shots, he is the sort of blue-chip coach United need to appoint.
The United players will not need to google Thomas Tuchel as they did Ralf Rangnick.
United’s hierarchy might already be settled on pursuing Mauricio Pochettino or Erik ten Hag. Fair enough. But if Tuchel fancied the job, you would find it hard to resist.
There are many reasons why it is that most outrageous of long shots: Tuchel appears to love life at Chelsea, has a group of players that is considerably better than the one at Old Trafford and his contract is probably pretty watertight.
Plus, the idea that one of the Premier League superpowers would allow their coach to move to a direct rival seems fairly unthinkable.
But these are not normal times at Chelsea - these are uncertain times.
And if Manchester United are not exploring the possibility of prising Tuchel away, they should be.
