Manchester United will negotiate Mike Phelan's departure as assistant coach after he was told that he would have no part to play in the first-team set-up under Erik ten Hag.
The 59-year-old returned to the club under Ole Gunnar Solskjaer as a first-team coach before being promoted to the role of assistant manager three years ago.
Phelan remained in that role until Solskjaer's sacking last year but was kept on at the club as a first-team coach under interim manager Ralf Rangnick. The former Hull City manager cut a detached figure in the dugout following Solskjaer's sacking, but Rangnick leant on him more as the season progressed.
READ MORE: Erik ten Hag keen to keep highly rated coach Eric Ramsay at Manchester United
Ten Hag has appointed Mitchell van der Gaag and Steve McClaren as his assistants for next season, but the club will need to negotiate Phelan's exit given he still has one year remaining on his current deal.
Phelan signed a new contract as assistant manager last summer and could yet stay at the club in a non-coaching role, but that has yet to be decided.
Rangnick said Phelan, whose training sessions were popular with players when he was assistant to Sir Alex Ferguson, did not observe training sessions under Solskjaer.
"Since Michael Carrick is no longer on board we needed somebody else to replace him, so Chris Armas is one of two assistant coaches now with Kieran [McKenna]," Rangnick explained. "So I have the two of them who help me to prepare training sessions, to discuss video footage together with [analyst] Paul Brand.
"Mike Phelan is not watching the training sessions - he also didn’t do that when Ole was in charge - but he’s also part of the training group of the staff. But he is never on the pitch when we train. He’s not out there and he didn’t do that when Ole was in charge, as I said."
United want to keep Eric Ramsay as part of the backroom staff next season, despite the coach being on the shortlist to take over as Barnsley's next manager.
The club are aware of the interest in the 30-year-old, who is considered one of the most promising young coaches in the game, but are keen to retain his services next season.
