England boss Gareth Southgate says he will not speak to any interested parties until after Euro 2024 and called speculation linking him to Manchester United “completely disrespectful” to Erik ten Hag.

This summer could well prove the 53-year-old’s fourth and final tournament in charge of the national team with his Football Association contract expiring in December.

Southgate says contract talks are on the back burner with his full focus on glory in Germany, but the background noise dialled up this week following reports of Manchester United’s potential interest.

“I think there are two things from my point of view,” Southgate said.

“One is that I’m the England manager. I’ve got one job, basically, to try and deliver a European Championship. Clearly before that, two important games this week.

“And the second thing is Manchester United have a manager and I think it’s always completely disrespectful when there’s any speculation about a manager that’s in place.

“I’m president of the LMA so I don’t have any time for that sort of thing, really.”

United’s ambitious new co-owners Ineos are understood to admire Southgate, who has a good relationship with Sir Dave Brailsford as well as potential incoming sporting director Dan Ashworth.

But he would not be the only candidate if the job came up and the Red Devils are planning for next season with Ten Hag as things stand.

And irrespective of whether that role comes up in the coming months, Southgate says he will not speak to anyone until after the Euros.

“I think I’ve answered this every time I’ve sat with you,” Southgate said. “Yeah, my focus is a European Championship.

“If we did something, a contract, here before everybody would be saying, ‘why are you signing a contract before a Euros where you’ve got to prove yourself?’.

“I’m certainly not going to speak to anybody else ahead of that. I never have.

“I’ve been eight years in the job. I wouldn’t entertain speaking to anybody else when I’m in the job.”

Manchester United have made an approach to Newcastle sporting director Dan Ashworth, according to reports.

The Athletic has reported the 52-year-old has notified Newcastle he has been approached by the Red Devils but there has been no formal contact between the clubs.

Various media outlets have said the Old Trafford club want Ashworth to be in place this summer in time to oversee their transfer business.

Sir Jim Ratcliffe’s proposed deal to buy a 25 per cent stake in the club has been approved by both the Premier League and Football Association and is expected to be completed next week.

Ratcliffe has wasted little time in making his mark as his chemicals company Ineos takes control of United’s football operations.

Ineos sporting director Sir Dave Brailsford has been an increasing presence around the club since Ratcliffe’s deal was announced in December.

And last month United confirmed the appointment of Manchester City’s Omar Berrada as their new chief executive.

As Ineos continues to look at strengthening United’s football leadership team, with recruitment a particular area of focus, Ashworth is an ideal candidate.

He has built an impressive CV in previous roles as sporting and technical director at West Brom and Brighton and spent four years as the FA’s director of elite development.

At Brighton, Ashworth oversaw the signings of Moises Caicedo, Alexis Mac Allister and Marc Cucurella among others, while at Newcastle his incomings include Alexander Isak, Sven Botman and Anthony Gordon.

Sir Jim Ratcliffe is this weekend set to attend his first Manchester United match since agreeing a partial takeover of the club, the PA news agency understands.

The billionaire has agreed to buy a 25 per cent stake in the Premier League outfit and, barring any late change in schedule, is due to attend Sunday’s match against Tottenham at Old Trafford.

The deal is still awaiting ratification, but Ratcliffe and his team have wasted no time getting to know the club as his INEOS group prepare to take responsibility for footballing operations at United.

The 71-year-old and Sir Dave Brailsford, INEOS’ director of sport, visited Old Trafford and United’s Carrington training ground last week.

The pair met with men’s team manager Erik ten Hag and women’s team boss Marc Skinner, along with members of different teams and backroom staff.

The INEOS delegation also met with wider club staff at Old Trafford and attended an all-staff meeting as they get to better know United and the challenge at hand.

Brailsford has been at all three matches since the deal was announced on Christmas Eve, with INEOS Sport chief executive Jean Claude Blanc joining him at Monday’s FA Cup third round 2-0 win against Wigan.

Under-fire Erik ten Hag says misfiring Manchester United have to “step up” and find a modicum of consistency after Nottingham Forest inflicted their 14th defeat of a chastening season.

A year that began with positivity and silverware ended with the Red Devils under intense scrutiny given they are already out of Europe, the Carabao Cup and Premier League title race.

United have been infuriatingly inconsistent throughout the campaign, epitomised by the thrilling 3-2 Boxing Day turnaround against Aston Villa being followed up Saturday’s limp 2-1 loss at Forest.

“One thing is clear we are not consistent,” boss Ten Hag said. “We can beat the best teams in the league, but we also lose games we should win, and I think today was one of them.

“We always have to swap (players due to absentees). I don’t think I talk a lot about players we don’t have. Every time I am telling it doesn’t matter who we line up, we have to win.

“But the routines are not there if every time we have to swap.

“Today is another example. When (Rasmus) Hojlund is ill, we have to swap our frontline and we have seen it in the first half there was no speed in the game there.”

This was quite the comedown from the Boxing Day victory against Villa and the positivity some fans felt after the Christmas Eve announcement that Sir Jim Ratcliffe is becoming minority owner.

INEOS are taking responsibility for the footballing operations and Ten Hag said on Friday that he was convinced they wanted to keep him on as manager.

Sir Dave Brailsford, INEOS’ director of sport, watched Saturday’s game in the directors’ box alongside Sir Alex Ferguson, whose final league title in 2013 looks unlikely to be added to anytime soon.

“They know me and they know when I have a squad what is available, then the results will be there,” Ten Hag said.

“We are already proving against the top teams we can go head to head, so I’m convinced and have strong belief we get more progress in this team, that we get more consistency in.

“I think this is part of a project. We were overperforming last year. This year so, far, we are underperforming.

“We have to do better, we have to step up and I have to lead that process.”

The performances have made as grim viewing as the results, with this United’s 14th loss of the season in all competitions and 21st in total of 2023.

Asked if he is confident of things improving, Ten Hag said: “Yeah, of course I believe that.

“I know when players are returning, then I am sure this side will be stronger.

“You have to clinically analyse this, then we know where it’s come from. We have a lack of routines, we have to work on that.”

The post-match analysis will be dominated by United, but this was Forest’s night.

Four days on from winning 3-1 at Newcastle, new manager Nuno Espirito Santo celebrated his first home win in charge as they beat the Red Devils for the first time since 1994.

Morgan Gibbs-White’s late strike from the edge of the box wrapped up a memorable triumph after Marcus Rashford had capitalised on a terrible Matt Turner pass to cancel out Nicolas Dominguez’s opener.

“They did the job, the players played well,” Forest boss Espirito Santo said. “I think the team was compact.

“In the first half, I think we controlled pretty well the game, we defend well. We had good spells of possession, didn’t finish too much actions.

“Much better in the second half, we start to combine. First goal, good movement, good combination and good finish.

“We concede and it seems we’re going to be in trouble but the reaction was immediate, it showed character, so the players should enjoy the video because they did a fantastic job.

“And the fans, we cannot thank them enough so let’s enjoy this moment together.”