Sir Jim Ratcliffe makes hint over Erik ten Hag's Man Utd future with revealing Mikel Arteta comment

Sir Jim Ratcliffe has dropped a hint regarding Erik ten Hag’s future at Manchester United.

The Star claimed that Ratcliffe has made England manager Gareth Southgate his No.1 choice to replace Erik ten Hag at United this summer.

The petrochemicals billionaire is allegedly confident of tempting the England boss to Old Trafford after having his Ineos sports team canvas a spate of United legends.

Southgate reportedly has the backing of some of United’s current crop as well as incoming director of football Dan Ashworth.

However, in an interview with Geraint Thomas’ eponymous podcast, Ratcliffe hinted that he may opt to give Ten Hag more time.

While discussing the job Mikel Arteta has done at Arsenal, Ratcliffe praised the north London club’s hierarchy for giving the Spaniard time to build his squad.

When Ratcliffe was asked who, other than United, he would want to win the Premier League, he said: “I hate them all.

“You’ve got Liverpool, Man City and Arsenal. I don’t know. They’re all the enemy. I couldn’t possibly choose one.”

He continued: “[Winning the league] would be good for Arteta. It would be good for him because he’s done really well and Arsenal have been patient with him.”

Nevertheless, despite going through to the FA Cup semi-finals and remaining in the hunt to qualify for next term’s Champions League, Ratcliffe is, as per the Star, unconvinced by Ten Hag.

The Dutchman would reportedly pocket up to £10million in compensation should he be sacked in the summer, a year before his contract at United is set to expire.

Back in February, when asked if Ratcliffe had confidence in him, Ten Hag replied: "Absolutely, I had that feeling. We have so many talks, we are very aligned. We have the same ambition, we are very aligned in the process."

Arteta's job at Arsenal has been praised by Ratcliffe (Getty)

"It's not from his press conference! We speak a lot, there are many conversations with him, with Dave Brailsford about this club, about the team, about the structures, we are very aligned. I embrace totally the ambitions.

"It totally fits with ambitions I have, the ambitions I had when I came in. We are in that project. I'm 19 months in and I see we are going in the right direction.

"We have had setbacks in the second season but you see the team coming, you see the squad progressing and developing, just keep going in the process, work hard on the training pitch, work hard during games. It's very important to have the players fit but also to construct a squad which is robust.

"I am sure we will be strong and we will be even stronger when we add to this squad even more qualities."