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Eric Ramsay To Quit Manchester United For MLS

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By David Williams

Welsh coach Eric Ramsay is set to take over at Minnesota United and become the latest Briton to take a management job in Major League Soccer.

The 32-year-old will become the youngest ever head coach in the United States and Canada’s top division when the Manchester United assistant completes his move to the Twin Cities.

Ramsay has worked with a number of Manchester United managers – including Ole Gunnar Solskjaer and Ralf Rangnick before taking a larger role as an assistant within Erik ten Hag’s staff.

But he has now agreed a deal to take over at Minnesota following next weekend’s Manchester derby and the North Walian will swell the number of British head coaches in MLS to six.

Ramsay was appointed an assistant coach with Wales a year ago, after manager Rob Page called him “arguably one of the best young coaches in football at this moment in time.”

But Ramsay lasted only six months in the role before stepping down after stating that the demands of the United job made his part time international job untenable.

Swansea City were keen on Ramsay to be named Michael Duff’s successor last December, but he rejected their approaches before they turned to Luke Williams.

His experience had previously also landed him on Blackpool’s shortlist a year ago – but he decided to stay at Old Trafford.

His move to the States will follow a trend. Gary Smith is in charge of Nashville, John Herdman is at Toronto and ex-England international Phil Neville recently took charge at the Portland Timbers having previously managed Inter Miami.

Dean Smith, the former Aston Villa and Leicester boss, is another recent appointment by an MLS club having joined ambitious Charlotte FC in the winter.

The 52-year-old took charge of his first competitive match on Saturday as they won their season opener 1-0 at home to New York City FC, who are coached by fellow Englishman Nick Cushing.

“If somebody asked for my advice, I would say to anybody in England come to MLS,” said Cushing, who previously managed Manchester City’s women’s team.

“Just purely based off, firstly, the challenge is like the Championship in the sense of its really competitive.

“The opportunity to win is there if you have a good strategy, good structure, good sort of way of working. You have to back your coaching, your staff and your recruitment.

“But also we’re playing in the Carolina Panthers stadium in front of 65,000. It’s amazing.

“I’m sure Dean will say in three, four, five months’ time that this was a great move for him because he will see that you get to see the whole of America, the challenge is great.”

Smith pipped former Chelsea and Everton boss Frank Lampard to the Charlotte post and British coaches of all ages are paying increasing attention to MLS.

“I’ve had a lot of people ask if I need any more coaches wanting to get out here,” the former Villa boss said.

“I’m still on the board of the LMA (League Managers Association) so I’ll do a talk for them on what it is like.”

There are also Brits in senior positions in MLS, including DC United’s Scottish general manager Ally Mackay and NYCFC sporting director David Lee.

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