Manchester United are considering an approach to Gareth Southgate, the England manager, as they become increasingly concerned that Mauricio Pochettino will stay at Tottenham Hotspur this summer.

United go to Wembley Stadium on Sunday to face Pochettino’s Spurs team with no certainty yet that the Argentinian is prepared to give up on five years at his current club to become the fourth permanent manager at Old Trafford since Sir Alex Ferguson retired. While Pochettino remains the first choice of United executive vice-chairman Ed Woodward, the club are aware that it is by no means certain he will agree to come.

Southgate signed a new contract with the Football Association in October that takes him to the 2022 World Cup finals and he would be by no means certain to accept a job elsewhere in the interim. The England manager is committed to the national team and although United represents the biggest job in English club football he may well believe that, at 48, it could come around for him again.

The former Real Madrid manager Zinedine Zidane is also on United’s list of possible candidates to succeed Jose Mourinho, sacked last month, on a permanent basis. He has the advantage of being unattached but despite his success at Real Madrid, there are reservations about his suitability.

An approach to Southgate would be problematic given the length of his contract with the FA and the awkwardness of taking a manager from the national team. In early 2002, United were close to appointing Sven Goran Eriksson, then the England manager, as Ferguson’s successor before the Scot reversed his decision to retire at the end of the 2001-2002 season.