Gareth Southgate breaks silence on claims that he could replace Erik ten Hag at Manchester United

England manager Gareth Southgate has weighed in on being the bookmakers' favorite to replace Erik ten Hag at Manchester United. The 53-year-old has insisted that he remains entirely focused on his job with the Three Lions and has not been in conversations with any club.

Erik ten Hag finds himself under immense pressure following a pretty underwhelming season at Old Trafford this time out. A 1-0 loss to Arsenal on Sunday (May 12) after a 4-0 hammering at the hands of Crystal Palace on May 6 has put the Dutchman's job under significant threat.

Bayern Munich boss Thomas Tuchel, Brighton manager Roberto De Zerbi, and former Chelsea manager Graham Potter have all been linked with the Manchester United job. However, Southgate has emerged as the bookies' favorite should Ten Hag face the axe in the summer.

Meanwhile, Gareth Southgate has insisted that he is only focused on his England job and has his sights on doing well in the Euros. The England manager said, as quoted by Express Sport:

“Well, I'm not a big gambling man, and bookies, they can make their odds but it's not conversations that’s been had with me. I've got one thing to focus on. That's having as successful a tournament with England as possible. Everything else outside of that is a complete irrelevance to me."

Southgate added:

“If I start talking about that, then I'm already distracted from what I'm doing. So, I think the country would expect that my focus is on England, and rightly so it is. We've had three tournaments where we've taken the public on a brilliant ride, I think we know that and I know that you've got that desire to go that one step further, and this is a brilliant opportunity for us to do that.’’

Manchester United have dropped down to eighth place in the table following their dismal run of form of late. The Red Devils could entirely miss out on a place in Europe next season.

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Manchester United legend urges the club to keep faith in Erik ten Hag

Manchester United legend Gary Neville has urged the Red Devils' hierarchy to give Erik ten Hag another season to prove himself. The former England right-back highlighted the dearth of good options available in the market and insisted that Ten Hag should be given another season.

Neville also pointed out that the Dutchman had to deal with a lot of injured players this season. The Sky Sports pundit said:

"I don't see a suitable replacement for Ten Hag available. Bayern Munich are struggling to find a replacement [for Thomas Tuchel], others are struggling. I think we need to stick with Ten Hag and give him one more season - an injury-free season - to see if United can get back to the standards of last season where they won a trophy and finished in the top four."

The former Manchester United star added:

"Players and managers have struggled to come to terms with Old Trafford in the last 10 years. These players and managers were great when United signed them, so there is something fundamentally wrong that is creating this difficulty. Maybe the new ownership and personnel will allow these players and manager to feel more stable."

As Ten Hag's future at Old Trafford remains up in the air, the Red Devils have been linked with a host of managers. Thomas Tuchel, Gareth Southgate, and Graham Potter have all been linked with a switch to Old Trafford.