Ryan Giggs 'to leave United to pursue management job'

Giggs has been at United for 29 years and served as interim player-manager when David Moyes was sacked in 2014 and as an assistant coach under Louis van Gaal.

Former Chelsea boss Jose Mourinho, who was announced as Van Gaal's replacement last week, is bringing his own management team to Old Trafford with his long-time assistant Rui Faria set to take up the role that Giggs has filled.

The Welshman is currently on holiday in Dubai and is scheduled to return to England at the weekend.

The Times and Daily Telegraph reported on Thursday that Giggs had been offered a role working with the under-21 side, perhaps in a job linking the younger outfit to the first team squad.

But that would clearly be a relatively minor role, at least compared to the one that he's played for the last few years. Furthermore, given Mourinho's long-standing reluctance to trust young players, it is the sort of job that might turn into a complete irrelevance.

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Giggs has one year left on his existing contract at Old Trafford, and his early exit would mark once and for all the end of the Alex Ferguson era. Because of that, some Manchester United fans would no doubt greet his exit with horror.

But the truth is that Mourinho's appointment always meant that Giggs was likely to go - and considering that he has been a key part of the management team over the past three unsatisfying years at Old Trafford, his exit may well prove to be for the best.

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As for Giggs himself? The Welshman has been linked with the vacant jobs at Swansea and even Everton, though given his lack of track record in management to date a drop down to the Championship seems a more likely outcome.