Michael Carrick looks increasingly likely to remain in charge of Manchester United for their Premier League game at Chelsea on Sunday.
Carrick, 40, will fulfil the club's pre-match media obligations on Friday, and even if United appointed an interim over the weekend, the new man would not have worked with the players.
Former Lyon coach Rudi Garcia, former Borussia Dortmund manager Lucien Favre and former Barcelona boss Ernesto Valverde are all thought to have spoken to United.
They are out of work and, in theory, available immediately. The same is not true of another contender, Ralph Rangnick, who is currently the sporting director at Lokomotiv Moscow.