Man Utd have held talks with former Barcelona boss Xavi as Erik ten Hag is increasingly close to being sacked at Old Trafford, according to reports.

The Red Devils have made a terrible start to the new Premier League season with Ten Hag’s side currently 12th after eight matches.

Man Utd have won just three of those eight games and that has piled pressure on the Dutchman to turn around their fortunes.

Ten Hag’s side did win their first match back after the international break in a 2-1 victory over Brentford on Saturday, which slightly eased the heat on the Man Utd boss.

But now the Daily Mail claim that the Man Utd hierarchy have been holding talks with former Barcelona boss Xavi as they line up a replacement for Ten Hag.

The Daily Mail reports:

‘Mail Sport understands that intermediaries have made contact with the former Barcelona star twice in the last few months.

‘A four-man delegation led by chief executive Omar Berrada flew out to Barcelona last Thursday, although United sources say that a number of high-level meetings have taken place in the Catalan capital recently because co-owner Sir Jim Ratcliffe has been there to support Ineos Britannia sailing team in their battle with New Zealand for the America’s Cup.

‘But it has also fuelled speculation that Xavi could be a contender if Ten Hag is axed after two-and-half years in charge.

‘Ten Hag’s assistant Ruud van Nistelrooy would be an obvious short-term replacement – and Xavi has also made it clear that he doesn’t want to coach in Spain again.

‘United sources maintain that Ten Hag remains their manager and the club have no plans to make a change as he prepares to face Fenerbahce in the Europa League on Thursday.

‘United declined to comment on Tuesday, saying they refuse to engage in speculation over the manager’s future ‘

And former Man Utd chief scout Mick Brown – who remains well-connected at Old Trafford – insists that Ten Hag is “always one defeat away” from being sacked.

Brown told Football Insider: “Just winning a few games won’t be enough and he’ll know that.

“You can win three games on the bounce, but one shock defeat and that pressure will be back.

“Every time you lose a game at Manchester United, you’re under the kosh. That’s always been the case. You’re always one defeat away.

“So it’s good to win games, and he needs to win games, that’s the only way he’ll be able to keep his job, but even that might not be enough.

“They’ve got a good run of games coming up, but that only increases the pressure.

“We’ve been in this position before where they get all three points from a game and look like they can push on, but then they lose again.

“All it takes is one loss for the crowd to turn and all of a sudden a decision has to be made.”

Mikel Arteta admitted Arsenal looked tired in their slender 1-0 Champions League win over Shakhtar Donetsk at the Emirates.

The Gunners bounced back from their surprise defeat against Bournemouth after Gabriel Martinelli’s first-half strike rebounded in off goalkeeper Dmytro Riznyk to maintain their unbeaten record in Europe.

But Leandro Trossard missed a second-half penalty and David Raya had to produce a fine stoppage-time save to be sure of the three points. Arsenal’s evening was also soured when Riccardo Calafiori limped off with a knee injury in the second half.

“The first half we were very dominant and we created four big chances that we should have converted and put the game to bed,” said Arteta.

“The second half was very different and we looked tired, and lacked that sharpness, with and without the ball. We missed a penalty. And that emotion was difficult to overcome. We had to dig in. But overall it’s Champions League, get the win, clean sheet. Let’s move on.”

However, Arteta insisted he expects his side to be back on song when Arne Slot’s side visit on Sunday.

He added: “We played two nights ago, with players coming back from internationals, after flying from Brazil and many countries.

“I was expecting a bit of a drop-off. And the fact that we put so much in the first half and didn’t get the distance in terms of the scoreline, we paid a bit for that.

“Then we made life more difficult for us because we started to give the ball away in not the right areas and then it was more open. That didn”t help. But we have now four days. And believe me, come Sunday we’ll be flying. We’ll be in the right place.”

With captain Martin Odegaard sidelined, and William Saliba and Bukayo Saka both set to be out for the visit of Liverpool through suspension and injury respectively, Calafiori added to Arteta’s woes after he was withdrawn in the second half.

Calafiori appeared to twist his knee in a collision with Eguinaldo and although he attempted to carry on, he was withdrawn six minutes later.

Ben White, who only returned from injury in the defeat at Bournemouth following a near-month lay-off, was substituted at half-time. However, Arteta revealed that was a precaution with the defender already on a yellow card.

Real Madrid fought back from two goals down as Vinicius Jr grabbed a hat-trick in a thrilling 5-2 win over visitors Borussia Dortmund in the UEFA Champions League on Tuesday.

In a rematch of last-season’s final, Dortmund lit up the game with a two-goal blitz around the half-hour mark from Donyell Malen and Jamie Gittens to silence the Bernabeu crowd.

However, the champions were livelier after the break and broke Dortmund’s resistance with Antonio Ruediger’s header on the hour before Vinicius equalised with a close-range strike.

Lucas Vazquez put Real ahead in the 83rd with an unstoppable strike after a counter-attack and Vinicius, with two pieces of individual Brazilian brilliance, wrapped up the win to leave his side level with Dortmund on six points from three games.

Still figuring out the ideal lineup and formation for a Real midfield missing the creative talent of Toni Kroos, who retired at the end of last season, Ancelotti reverted to his usual 4-3-3 after trying out a system with three center-backs in an unconvincing 2-1 win over Celta Vigo in LaLiga at the weekend.

However, after a promising first half hour in which Real looked solid at the back and in control of the match, Dortmund took advantage of a lack of concentration by the home defense to score twice in the space of four minutes.

Real looked as stunned as the home fans, anxiously missing several chances, and were often exposed by counter-attacks, with goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois making brilliant saves to deny efforts from Gittens and Julian Brandt before the break.

Elsewhere, Arsenal needed an own goal to seal a scrappy 1-0 win over Shakhtar Donetsk as they made it two wins out of three in the Champions League to soften the blow of their first domestic league defeat of the season at the weekend.

The hosts missed a penalty in the second half and squandered a number of decent chances, but the reality was they never found top gear and had to withstand some late pressure.

Arsenal, who were beaten 2-0 by Bournemouth in the Premier League on Saturday, made a fast start with Brazilians Gabriel Martinelli and Gabriel Jesus both having good opportunities before a fortunate opener in the 29th minute.

A low shot from Martinelli rebounded off the post and off the back of Shakhtar keeper Dmytro Riznyk for what turned out to be the only goal of the game.

Arsenal would have doubled their advantage before halftime were it not for Shakhtar captain Mykola Matviyenko who hooked the ball off the line to prevent a diving Kai Havertz nodding in.

Leandro Trossard also missed a second-half penalty awarded by video assistant referee (VAR) following a handball in the box.

Shakhtar, who are yet to win in the Champions League this season, put more pressure on Arsenal after the interval and went close to equalising when substitute Pedrinho had a long-range effort superbly saved by Arsenal keeper David Raya in stoppage time.

Victory lifts Arsenal provisionally into the top four of the new 36-team league phase before Wednesday’s fixtures with their next match away at Inter Milan. Shakhtar will seek to bounce back in their next match at home to Swiss side Young Boys.

Arsenal will be relieved to have sealed the win but without key playmakers Bukayo Saka and captain Martin Odegaard who were missing through injury, were well off their fluent best.

Arteta, whose side have also suffered from three domestic league red cards this season, substituted defender Ben White at halftime after he had picked up a yellow card.