Wales Head Coach Ryan Giggs has been tipped to return and handle affairs at Manchester United in the future by former team-mate Mark Hughes.
Giggs, who spent his entire footballing career with the English giants, received his first stint at coaching at the club and even played the role of player-manager after the sacking of David Moyes in 2014.
The former winger would then serve as assistant manager to Louis van Gaal before taking charge of his nation in 2018 and successfully qualifying them for Euro 2020.
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While Giggs has his attention focused on Wales, Hughes is convinced Giggs is putting himself in an ideal position to return to Old Trafford as permanent manager one day.
“I think Ryan is in a good place in his management career,” Hughes said via BBC Sport.
“He is on an upward trend. He is probably more likely to get an opportunity at Manchester United than he was when Van Gaal left.
“Maybe they felt his management CV wasn’t strong enough at that point, but if he goes to the European Championship and does well, then there’s no reason why he won’t be in the frame.
“He was a fantastic player throughout his career and he’s had good opportunities to learn the game on the other side of the fence.
“Obviously he was mentored by Sir Alex [Ferguson] for many years and in later years he was able to work alongside him. He then worked very closely with Van Gaal for a couple of years, which I felt was a good decision by him and the club.
“I thought that was with a view to him taking over the role when Van Gaal left. It wasn’t to be, they made the decision to go for a bigger name in terms of management – [Jose] Mourinho.
“I think that was pushed maybe a little bit because of the appointment at Manchester City of Guardiola. Maybe they felt they needed like for like, which probably affected Ryan’s chances.”
Hughes himself, whose managerial career has included spells in charge of Wales, Manchester City and most recently Southampton, remains open to coaching another club despite being out of the game for nearly two years.
“I haven’t retired yet. People might assume I have, but I am available,” Hughes added.
“I am open to opportunities whatever they are and wherever they are. I am at a stage of my life where I am not restricted really in terms of where I can go, it’s just that the world is restricted at the moment with this strange situation everyone finds themselves in terms of Covid.
“There are opportunities I have looked at and thought might be interesting but I haven’t pursued too many of them. I’ll know when an opportunity arises that it’s time to go back in.”
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