Manchester United striker Cristiano Ronaldo urged reject club chiefs Antonio Conte as a possible manager back in October.
The Manchester Evening News says at the time the United hierarchy was 'not keen' on Conte and Ronaldo's own reservations about the Italian were fed back to the board.
Conte now has Tottenham well placed to finish in the top four and qualify for the Champions League at United's expense.
United are finalising their process of appointing the Ajax coach Erik ten Hag as manager and have not consulted the players. It emerged in early February the majority of the United squad favoured Mauricio Pochettino.
United were confident of attaining Ten Hag in the summer as far back as January and the 52-year-old's release clause is a meagre £1.7m.
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