The one thing which stopped Manchester United appointing Luis Enrique

Chelsea rejected Luis Enrique twice, Arsenal turned him down for two reasons, Spurs pulled out at the last hurdle and Manchester United came close too.

Luis Enrique has flirted with the Premier League for close to a decade but five different clubs felt they were above appointing the PSG mastermind. Some of the reasons are damning.

Arsenal – money and a ‘self-absorbed approach’
The chief architect of the obstacle standing between Arsenal and a second Champions League final could have been the driving force behind their post-Wenger push to remain relevant.

Luis Enrique was, for a time, the betting favourite to take over at the Emirates in 2018. The Spaniard was available after a year out of the game following his departure from Barcelona, who he coached to a Treble and six other trophies in three seasons, and was understandably drawn to the prospect of managing Shkodran Mustafi.

Arsenal even had the trump card of Luis Enrique’s strong relationship with former Barcelona colleague and then Gunners executive Raul Sanllehi to play, but they withdrew their interest due to a number of factors in late April.

A report from The Times suggested there were boardroom machinations involved, with some in positions of power deeming Luis Enrique to be ‘an inappropriate fit to the position’.

The point was expanded upon to include reservations over ‘salary demands exceeding the pay of’ Wenger, and a ‘self-absorbed approach to management’ which ‘would not mesh with the London club’s restructuring strategy’.

Unai Emery, on the other hand, was a perfect fit. Arsenal really did completely bottle the appointment of Mikel Arteta at the time.

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Chelsea – money and ‘temperament’
It can be difficult to keep track of which managers Chelsea have targeted and when to replace whom, but Luis Enrique has certainly registered on their radar a number of times.

The first instance came towards the end of Antonio Conte’s reign, when Luis Enrique was installed as the most likely candidate to take over before being ruled out on similar grounds to those Arsenal used: wage demands and ‘temperament’.

The Luis Enrique train has circled back around to Stamford Bridge again since, most notably during that glorious period in 2023 when Graham Potter was sacked and caretaker Frank Lampard came in on the advice of fleeting Chelsea director of football James Corden.

As part of their ‘exhaustive process’ to find a new manager Luis Enrique was invited for face-to-face talks in London, but soon after the club cooled their interest without any specific reason being given.

It doesn’t require a vivid imagination to presume that the hierarchy might have sensed his innate incompatibility with their way of operating.

The Spaniard decided to transform PSG instead so no hard feelings.

Spurs – Ange Postecoglou, mate
That felt like a straight shoot-out between Chelsea and Spurs, who were hoping to move on from their own Conte relationship breakdown with an ambitious rebound.

Luis Enrique was once more the favourite, free after leaving Spain and eager to finally work in the Premier League. But yet again a potential suitor ultimately lost their nerve.

Spurs whittled their shortlist down to two and felt Ange Postecoglou was the better cultural fit. And to be fair they are also in a European semi-final this week so everyone’s a winner – except generally and certainly in this specific case Spurs.

A handful of indirect reasons have been cited for Daniel Levy’s reluctance to bring in habitual winner Luis Enrique, ranging from an inexperience in England to, as The Athletic put it, ‘a reputation for rubbing people up the wrong way’ and, most predictably of all, money. But to be fair, the club might have imploded under the sheer weight of self-disgust if the reigns of Jose Mourinho and Conte had been followed up by Luis Enrique telling them every other week how much he also hates them.

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Manchester City – Pep Guardiola
The question of who Manchester City will choose to replace Guardiola became uncomfortably relevant at the start of this season with their struggles and his expiring contract, when Luis Enrique was identified as the most preferable contender.

Guardiola ensured that equation did not need to be solved for a while yet when he extended his Etihad deal to 2027, by which point Luis Enrique might well have matched him for Champions Leagues won as a manager.

Manchester United – a winter World Cup
A freak occurrence might have been the only barrier to Luis Enrique becoming Manchester United manager. A World Cup being held across November and December cannot really be considered quite as serendipitous and fateful as the Eyjafjallajokull volcanic eruptions which spared Robert Lewandowski from becoming a forgotten Barclaysman at Sam Allardyce’s Blackburn, but it was a clear sliding doors moment for club and manager nevertheless.

Aside from once clashing with Roy Keane in a pre-season friendly, Luis Enrique did not really enter the Old Trafford orbit until late 2021. The Spaniard only once faced Manchester United as a player and never as a coach, and circumstances meant he was not in any way a reasonable applicant when the post became available on a frequent basis after Sir Alex Ferguson’s departure.

But that changed slightly when Ole Gunnar Solskjaer was sacked and Cristiano Ronaldo threw his considerable weight behind Luis Enrique as his successor. It was soon decided that the Ralf Rangnick stop-gap was more suitable but it marked the Spain manager out as a person of interest.

Therein laid the biggest sticking point. Luis Enrique was in many ways a perfect option – a proven trophy winner with a more modern and tactically flexible approach – but the most tempting factor might have been his unattainability: Manchester United wanted what they could not have.

Luis Enrique, wanting to honour the loyalty of an FA which allowed him compassionate leave due to the death of his daughter in 2019, was unwilling to entertain the prospect of leaving Spain before the Qatar World Cup. Had it not been held in the winter of 2022, Manchester United might have been able to muddle through to the end of the season before bringing him in fresh from the tournament as they had with Louis van Gaal eight years prior.

As it was, timing meant targeting Luis Enrique was never viable. Erik ten Hag was the benefactor – or biggest loser, depending on your viewpoint.

Everton and West Ham
It had to be them; it always is.

Neither rejected Luis Enrique for even they are not quite so absurd but both attempted to bring him to the Premier League. Everton shortlisted him and Diego Simeone when considering replacements for Sam Allardyce in 2018, while West Ham made what The Guardian called ‘furtive inquiries’ which ‘went nowhere’ in 2022.

Two absolutely ludicrous institutions who cannot be faulted for their ambition.