Juventus boss Massimiliano Allegri will be considered during Manchester United's hunt for a new manager, sources have told ESPN FC.
Tottenham coach Mauricio Pochettino is their top choice to replace Jose Mourinho, who was sacked last week, but United are committed to "a thorough and extensive" search before making a permanent appointment ahead of next season.
Caretaker Ole Gunnar Solskjaer has won his first two games after taking the job following Mourinho's dismissal.
The Norwegian, who is still under contract at Molde, has hinted he would also like to be considered for the role full-time but sources have told ESPN FC that United will push on with their search regardless of results on the pitch.
Allegri, who features above Pochettino in ESPN FC's rank of the world's best managers, has a contract at Juventus until 2020 but has let it be known he would be keen on a move to the Premier League.
The 51-year-old, who has led Juventus to four consecutive Serie A titles and reached the Champions League final in 2015 and 2017, was interested in taking over at Arsenal in the summer before Unai Emery was appointed as Arsene Wenger's successor.
He would fit the bill for United, who are also looking to reshuffle the structure of the club by appointing a technical director to fill the void between executive vice-chairman Ed Woodward and the new manager.
Mourinho was reluctant to have the changes implemented while he was in charge but it is a setup Allegri is used to have worked with sporting director Fabio Paratici at Juventus.
Pochettino, meanwhile, has refused to rule himself out of the running to be United's next manager although there is an acceptance at Old Trafford that it will be very difficult to persuade Tottenham to part company with a manager who has led them to three top four finishes in a row.
He saw Tottenham become Liverpool's closest challengers for the title on Boxing Day after they beat Bournemouth 5-0 and Manchester City fell to a 2-1 defeat at Leicester.