Ryan Giggs would have to cast aside differences with the Swansea City board if he is to succeed Bob Bradley at the Liberty Stadium.
Giggs has emerged as one of the early favourites to become the next Swansea manager after Bradley’s 85-day tenure came to an end on Tuesday evening.
But the former Manchester United assistant manager criticised the Swansea board after he was overlooked for the job in October.
Giggs was confident of landing his first permanent post in management after speaking to club chairman Huw Jenkins, but it was said that an underwhelming interview scuppered the chances of the former Wales captain.
“I met with them a couple of times but in the end there was just mixed messages from the football side and the ownership side of the club,” Giggs told ITV after losing out to Bradley.
“I just felt their ambitions did not really match mine, so it didn’t quite work out.”
Giggs later wrote in his Daily Telegraph column: “I was invited to meet Huw Jenkins and visited him at his house.
“We got on well and after that Huw asked me to meet the club’s new majority owners, the American investors Jason Levien and Stephen Kaplan in London.
“I worked with an analyst and put together a presentation on Swansea and the clubs they were facing in the weeks ahead.
“Stephen, Jason and Huw asked to keep the presentation and told me they would be in touch. It was a positive meeting and I felt confident that I could do a good job at Swansea.
“There were certain things that happened after that meeting which suggested to me that Swansea would not be the best fit.”
Bradley’s 11-game reign came to an end after the 4-1 Boxing Day home defeat to West Ham had supporters calling for the American to be dismissed.
Swansea are keen to make a swift appointment with the club four points from safety in 19th place and the January transfer window set to open in a few days’ time.
Wales manager Chris Coleman, a native of Swansea who made nearly 200 appearances for the club between 1987 and 1991, has many admirers at the Liberty Stadium after guiding his country to the semi-finals of Euro 2016.
But the Football Association of Wales would resist any Swansea attempts to take their manager and Coleman, currently in the middle of the 2018 World Cup qualifying campaign, has said in the past that he will not walk out on his country.
The FAW rejected Hull’s advances for Coleman at the start of the season.
Coleman plans to step down as Wales manager after the World Cup campaign and has indicated that his next job will be abroad after previous spells in Spain and Greece.
If the Coleman option is not pursued, then Swansea are likely to turn to an out-of-work manager with Gary Rowett, Paul Clement, Alan Pardew, Frank de Boer, Roy Hodgson and Harry Redknapp all possible candidates.
Rowett, surprisingly sacked by Birmingham earlier this month, fits the profile of a young and hungry manager that Swansea have identified in the past.
The 42-year-old said on Tuesday that he is ready to take on his next challenge.
Clement also comes into that category and the Bayern Munich assistant manager was interviewed for the position following Francesco Guidolin’s departure in October.
De Boer, sacked by Inter Milan last month, has also been linked with Swansea in the past, while Pardew and Hodgson are out of work after high-profile jobs with Crystal Palace and England respectively and have extensive experience of the Premier League.
And former Tottenham and West Ham boss Redknapp wasted little time in putting his name forward.
Asked whether he would be interested in the Swansea job, Redknapp told talkSPORT: “I think if the opportunity and the challenge came up it would be one that would be interesting.
“It’s a good club Swansea. Where they’ve come from and what they’ve done.
“You go there and the atmosphere is absolutely fantastic for their games at home.
“I’ve not heard anything, I’ve had no approach from anybody but it’s a good club.”
First-team coaches Alan Curtis and Paul Williams are set to take charge of team affairs for Saturday’s home game against Bournemouth.