Manchester United coach Benni McCarthy admits he would be interested in taking charge of his boyhood club, Kaizer Chiefs, if he is not handed a contract renewal at Old Trafford. The former Blackburn Rovers striker was brought in by Erik ten Hag two years ago to work with United's attacking players.
But with Ten Hag's future up in the air and McCarthy soon to be out of contract, the South African coach is waiting for assurances over whether he will be kept on. United chief Sir Jim Ratcliffe is conducting a lengthy post-season review which will ultimately lead to a decision over whether Ten Hag is sacked.
Prior to the FA Cup final, reports indicated that the Dutchman would be dismissed regardless of how the match panned out. But a superb showing in a 2-1 win over Manchester City at Wembley has seemingly earned Ten Hag a period of consideration.
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Ten Hag's exit would likely pave the way for his coaching staff to depart, including McCarthy who, during an interview with South African radio station 947, admitted that he is excited to become a manager again.
"My time here, if the club wants me to continue in the role that I have, I would be grateful, it would be amazing," he said. "But I would miss having to wait another year or two years to become a head coach.
"Being back in the coaching area, I miss that with a passion. Some day it's going to happen and I'm going to go back to that. I don't know if I'm staying or going because the club is going through their whole process with the manager and the rest of the coaching staff."
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Despite playing for their bitter rivals Orlando Pirates, McCarthy grew up a Kaizer Chiefs fan. The 46-year-old admitted that he would be more than tempted to discuss the club's head coach vacancy if an opportunity came about.
"Definitely. I want to coach, I want to manage and I'm itching to do it," he stated. "I've learned a lot in my two years working at Man United, working with Erik - he's one of the smartest managers I've seen. Not many coaches in the world say no to institutions.
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"Man United, Real Madrid, Bayern Munich are institutions. I think Kaizer Chiefs, you can safely say it's also an institution. It's a great club, one that I'll always have a lot of love for because it's my local team that I supported as a kid. If the opportunity arises, of course you would have to sit down and think about it because you don't say no to institutions."
McCarthy's two head coach jobs prior to joining Ten Hag at United saw him take charge of Cape Town City and AmaZulu, with his stint at the latter club ending in 2022.
