REVEALED: How Benni McCarthy ended up at Manchester United

Benni McCarthy’s agent has given a detailed description of exactly how the former Cape Town City and AmaZulu head coach ended up grabbing himself a role as a first team coach at Manchester United.

OPINION: If Ten Haag trusts Benni McCarthy, so should we

McCarthy’s appointment was confirmed over the weekend by United, with the 44 year-old entrusted to use his experience as a top class striker and coach to help with the Red Devils’ attacking strategies in the new season.

It is safe to say the move caught many by surprise, and Rob Moore, who has been McCarthy’s manager since he was a 17 year-old playing at Cape Town Spurs, summed up on Metro FM on Tuesday exactly how his client got the job.

McCarthy had been out of a job since being sacked by AmaZulu in March.

“What you do is you keep an eye on the market, that is my job,” said Moore.

“When Erik Ten Haag was appointed at Manchester United (as head coach) I didn’t see that many names linked that he was taking with him. I spoke with Erik and started putting the thought in his mind.

“I said ‘why not consider Benni? he has played in Holland (Benni’s club career in Europe started at Ajax Amsterdam, Ten Hag’s former club), he understands Dutch coaches, and the philosophy you have. He is a good communicator, he speaks four languages. And he has played in the league (the English Premier League) where you are going to coach, and performed in that league’.

“Benni was the second top scorer (at Blackburn Rovers) to Didier Drogba in the Premier League in 2007.

“I hoped that would get someone like Ten Hag thinking and in July he asked Benni to come in for an interview, along with the director of football, John Murtagh.

“Benni said in the interview ‘Erik … since I have been head coach at Cape Town City and AmaZulu, there are nine players that ended up winning their first cap for their country.

“I think that was important for Erik, Benni has done well as a coach but most importantly he can make players better and take them to new levels.

“From that interview, which went very well, he was asked to come in and take a session with the Under-23s, that Erik was watching and analysing. He (Ten Hag) said to me he would think about it, he had some other names and would come back to me. He came back a couple of weeks later and said if you want the job, it’s there.”

Moore added that he believes McCarthy’s fluency in four languages – English, Dutch, Portuguese and Spanish – also stands him in good stead.

“I think in today’s world, and particularly coaching in Europe, it’s very important,” said Moore.

“You know, you get situations like a player coming over from Spain to join Manchester United. He might not be able to speak English at all or speak broken English and you get situations on the field where you need to be able to go in depth. If you are a coach who can communicate with a player in their mother tongue it is a huge advantage.”