Manchester United began the process of searching for a long-term successor to Erik ten Hag almost the moment their former manager signed a contract extension in the summer, Telegraph Sport has learnt.
United invoked an option to extend Ten Hag's contract by 12 months to 2026 on July 4 having earlier decided against sacking the Dutchman in the wake of an internal review, which followed interviews with at least half a dozen other managers.
But Telegraph Sport understands that the ink was barely dry on Ten Hag's new contract when United started laying the groundwork for a potential succession that ultimately concluded in him being sacked on Oct 28 and Ruben Amorim being appointed as the club's new head coach four days later.
Sources have indicated that Ten Hag would likely have been given longer had United started the season strongly but the former Ajax coach exited with the team 14th the Premier League and 21st out of 36 sides in the Europa League table.
United have faced criticism for sticking with Ten Hag and spending a projected £200 million on five new signings that summer only to dismiss him 115 days later.
The club had held talks with a number of managers, from Thomas Tuchel, Roberto De Zerbi and Kieran McKenna to Thomas Frank, Marco Silva and Mauricio Pochettino at the end of last season.
But insiders say one of the overriding reasons the club opted to stick with Ten Hag was because they did not have their new football management team on the ground and formally in place to do the homework and actively carry out the necessary due diligence on a replacement. As such, they were said to be wary of committing to something that had not been thoroughly worked through by the people appointed to make such long-term decisions.
Although Jason Wilcox arrived as technical director in April, sporting director Dan Ashworth - who has since left the club - formally began work only three days before Ten Hag's contract was signed and chief executive Omar Berrada was not formally in place until July 13.
In their absence, Sir Jim Ratcliffe's Ineos advisors and United's football club board members Sir Dave Brailsford and Jean-Claude Blanc had helped to fill the void alongside Wilcox.
In the search for a new manager, United are understood to have asked themselves who they would go for if they could pick someone in an ideal world, without compromiseing, and Amorim emerged as the stand-out candidate. They believe the Portuguese has the personality, mindset and technical and tactical skills to deliver long-term success.
That process ended up being driven by Berrada but Telegraph Sport understands claims that Ashworth was not fully on board with the decision are untrue and that the 53-year-old - who left United on Dec 8 after just 159 days in the job - did not recommend the likes of former England manager Gareth Southgate, who did not feature on United's shortlist.
The challenge facing Amorim was again laid bare on Sunday when United lost 3-0 at home to Bournemouth for the second successive season.