Alan Shearer has cast doubt on Eddie Howe becoming Manchester United's next manager, suggesting the former Newcastle boss would struggle to get the control he wants over transfers and team operations at Old Trafford.
Howe, 48, has been out of work since leaving Newcastle in July and is the bookmakers' favourite to replace Michael Carrick if United part ways with the current head coach. He is believed to have support within the Old Trafford boardroom.
Shearer's warning on control and compensation
Shearer, who turned down Manchester United in 1996 to join his boyhood club, praised Howe as a "highly talented coach" but stopped short of recommending him for the role.
"I don't know if Eddie Howe would go in and turn it around at Manchester United, also they would still have to compensate Newcastle," Shearer said. "Newcastle would still have a say because with the time left on his contract."
"Eddie does like control. So, whether he would get enough of that, I don't know. But it's Manchester United."
Howe's Newcastle legacy and United's struggles
The former England striker saw Howe transform Newcastle from relegation certainties to Champions League contenders and deliver a trophy, calling him "Newcastle's most successful manager in my time."
However, Shearer noted many talented managers have failed at United, adding: "I couldn't give him any advice. I know the size of the football club and the football team are very different to what it was 20 or 30 years ago. So, I understand the pull of that still. I also look at it logically, and know it's a really, really tough task going in there with how they are being run."
Howe is understood to be interested in the job should it become available, with director of football Jason Wilcox a fan. Julian Nagelsmann and Antonio Conte are also contenders.
Relegation battle focus
Shearer dismissed talk of making United title contenders again, instead focusing on their current predicament. United sit 16th, just two places and one point above the relegation zone, ahead of Saturday's lunchtime trip to Chelsea.
"Man United are in a relegation battle," Shearer told Betfair. "You can't talk about them winning titles when currently, they're in a relegation battle, and that just tells you where they are at the moment as a club."
He added: "We always say let's judge the league after 10 games, then you've got a more realistic point of view as to where teams are going to be and we've had eight. I don't expect them to win at Chelsea."
"If they win, then we're talking differently. But if they go to Chelsea and get beaten again, then yeah, you'd have to talk about them being in a relegation battle. Can you imagine Man City and Man United being relegated? You'd get good odds on that, put it that way."
