London - Ryan Giggs will fly to Dubai on Tuesday to consider his future at Manchester United.
Giggs is considering leaving after almost three decades at Old Trafford, his apparent reluctance to work with the soon-to-be-appointed Jose Mourinho fuelled by his anger at what he considers shabby treatment by executive vice-chairman Ed Woodward.
The club’s most decorated player feels the club have reneged on an agreement to let him succeed Louis van Gaal as manager. Sources say he is particularly upset by Woodward’s failure to keep him in the picture over developments with Mourinho.
He also left the Carrington training ground on Monday disappointed that he had not received a formal offer to stay in some capacity at the club after Van Gaal was sacked.
Club insiders still hope Giggs will decide to remain as a member of the coaching staff and believe talks with Mourinho could be critical.
They also think there will be a degree of reluctance to depart because, at a time when his life off the field appears to be in a state of turmoil, United are the one constant that provides the 42-year-old with some stability. But those same insiders rate it only ‘50-50’ that Giggs’s long association with the club will continue, especially if no assurances of his one day becoming the United manager are forthcoming.
Giggs held talks with Woodward at Carrington on Monday morning but left the training complex before Van Gaal and the rest of his Dutch staff were sacked.
David Moyes and Van Gaal both brought in their own staff, leaving Giggs feeling isolated and unable to make the contribution he would have wanted.
Likewise, Mourinho is expected to be joined at Old Trafford by a backroom team that includes his trusted No 2 Rui Faria and goalkeeper coach Silvino Louro.
Giggs took charge of the final four games of the 2013-14 season after Moyes was sacked and has worked alongside Van Gaal during the Dutchman’s difficult two-year reign.
But having been overlooked for the job again, he accepts that he may have to leave Old Trafford after 29 years to land a managerial post elsewhere.
Staff and senior players would have preferred Giggs to Mourinho and are fearful that his confrontational style will be little improvement on Van Gaal.
There was also alarm at the manner in which the news broke of Mourinho’s imminent appointment, with the finger of suspicion being pointed directly at the Portuguese camp. In their view it lacked class; not to mention respect for Van Gaal as the news broke only minutes after the Dutchman had guided United to FA Cup glory.
The club appeared to be in a state of turmoil on Monday. Sportsmail understands there are concerns that Giggs could be followed out of the club by academy head Nicky Butt.
Butt, in particular, will consider his position at United if his close friend Giggs quits.
Another member of United’s famous Class of ’92, Butt was only appointed as head of the club’s academy in mid-February following an extensive overhaul of the youth set-up at Carrington.
But he has reservations about what the future holds under Mourinho and would be reluctant to stay if Giggs’s departure marked another move away from United’s past.
There is also a question mark over the future of the club’s highly rated Under 21s coach Warren Joyce, with Blackburn Rovers keen to talk to him over their managerial vacancy.
Wales manager Chris Coleman believes his former international team-mate should ‘cut his teeth’ away from the club before returning to the United dug-out.
Coleman believes he has the ideal attributes to be a top manager but, having gained experience working as deputy to Moyes and Van Gaal, first needs to step out of the shadows and into his own frontline job.
‘As a man, has Giggsy got what it takes? Yes, definitely,’ said Coleman. ‘He’s quite quiet but underneath that there is a very determined character.
‘He’s had that time at United where he has sat in the shadow of somebody like Van Gaal and Moyes and must have all that experience now.
‘Is the Man United job a bit early for him? That is a massive job. Maybe he would be better going cutting his teeth somewhere else and prove that he has what it takes to then go back to United.’
Daily Mail