Nicky Butt has insisted that he will return his Manchester United season tickets if Enzo Maresca takes over from Ruben Amorim.
United and Chelsea find themselves managerless on the back of both Maresca and Amorim’s exits, and the Italian is among the favourites to take over from the latest Premier League manager to lose his job.
Speaking on The Good, The Bad and The Football, United legend Paul Scholes sounded Maresca out as a potential candidate to step into the Old Trafford hot seat, suggesting that it could be more than a coincidence that he lost his job at a similiar time to Amorim.
Butt, though, wasted no time stepping in. He said: ‘If Maresca comes in – I like him as a coach, I really do – with the background, I would give my season tickets back.’
Scholes questioned the call, replying: ‘I think going to Chelsea he would last two minutes. He has done alright.’ Butt, though, would go onto explain himself.
The former midfielder said: ‘You mis-read me. I can’t sit here and go on about Man united philosophy and DNA and then go, “Well I’d love Maresca, an ex-Man City guy. Then you have Omar Berrarda and Jason Wilcox.
Nicky Butt (right) has claimed he will give his Manchester United season tickets back if Enzo Maresca is appointed
Mareaca recently left Chelsea and has been linked with the vacancy at Manchester United
‘I don’t care how much success is. You’re forgetting where I’m from. Everyone is a City fan. I’m a Man United fan and I can’t accept that.’
Maresca spent a period of time at Manchester City in his coaching career, first between August 2020 and May 2021 , when he managed the Elite Development Squad.
After a brief stint with Parma, he returned to City in June 2022, then left a year later to take over at Leicester.
It is also understood that Maresca was talking to Manchester City about potentially succeeding Pep Guardiola as manager while he was still at Chelsea.
Butt is therefore reluctant to welcome Maresca into United, and sees his links to City – United’s local rivals – as a negative.
In terms of the next appointment, one of Butt’s former team-mates, Gary Neville, has called upon United’s hierarchy to stop experimenting with their coaching hires.
‘I thought Man United would adapt a lot better to the back three than they did,’ Neville admitted while speaking to Sky Sports.
‘It’s a difficult system, wing backs is challenging. The positions behind the centre forward are difficult positions. There are quite specialists positions in the system.
The vacancy opened up after Ruben Amorim was sacked by the club on Monday morning
‘But that’s a failing upon the manager, the players and the club, in terms of not recruiting properly for it.
‘The experiments have got to stop. There is a very good video online that Bobby Charlton talks about what Man United is as a football club. Adventurous, exciting football, playing young players, entertaining the crowd. Man United must take risks and play attacking football.
‘Man United have got to appoint a manager that fits the DNA of their club. Ajax would never change for anybody, Barcelona would never change for anybody.’
