Rio Ferdinand has shut down a rumour claiming that he had offered himself for a role at Manchester United in brutal fashion.
The former Red Devils defender was said to have put himself up to assist Erik ten Hag at Old Trafford, who is the favourite to become United's next permanent manager after completing an interview. Reacting to a post from a fan account on Twitter, Ferdinand wrote: "Who's feeding you this s***! Put myself forward yanoooooo," accompanied by two laughing emojis.
Having arrived from Leeds for a British-record transfer fee of £30million in 2002, Ferdinand made 445 appearances for the Red Devils, getting his hands on 16 trophies including six Premier League titles and one Champions League. The ex- England captain has spent his time after retiring in 2015 working as a pundit and earning his coaching badges.
Ferdinand revealed shortly after that he had declined a number of opportunities for coaching since his retirement and in 2017, turned his attention to boxing for a brief spell. His brother, Anton Ferdinand, tipped him for a return to football last year - but not in a coaching capacity.
"The way that he is as a person, I don't think he'll go into management now. I know he'd want to go in and be the best, and he understands that because he's only ever learned from the best in Sir Alex Ferguson," he told Ladbrokes . "If you want to be the best, you've got to be the first one there in the morning and the last one to leave at night, and I don't think he'd want to do that anymore because he's so much more family orientated than he was when he was playing.
"He's happy doing the punditry, because he's talking about something he's loved all of his life and he knows inside-out, and he's very good at it. I could see him potentially becoming a director of football somewhere. He's definitely got the skill-set and the know-how to do that sort of job.
"Anyone who knows Rio personally knows what you see on TV is just the way he is. He likes to have a laugh and a joke, but when he's working he's serious. He'll always be one of the first guys in the dressing room to have a laugh, but the minute it's serious his game face comes on."
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While a role for Ferdinand as director of football at United looks like a long shot at current, Ten Hag's chances of replacing interim boss Ralf Rangnick in the dugout are increasing. The Ajax manager has been interviewed by the Old Trafford hierarchy and is competing with fellow frontrunner Mauricio Pochettino for the hot seat.
The Red Devils are also interested in Spanish pair Julen Lopetegui and Luis Enrique, but Ten Hag is believed to be Rangnick's first choice, who will assist in the process and spend at least two years as a consultant for the club once he oversees United's final nine games of the Premier League season.
The acclaimed German coach has already heaped praise on Ten Hag's pedigree, telling Sky Sports : "I don't know him to start with as a person, but I've seen how Ajax have developed since he's been there. I know about the work he did while he was at Bayern Munich and it's obvious he's one of the top coaches in Europe but there are a few others. We've not spoken about any new manager so far and therefore we've not spoken about him."
