Erik ten Hag stunned Manchester United into giving him the manager's job following a brutal assessment of the club.
Technical director Darren Fletcher and football director John Murtough flew to Amsterdam last month to interview the Ajax boss about taking the Old Trafford hotseat for next season.
Only now can SunSport reveal the incredible detail of that meeting as the straight-talking Dutchman gave the United chiefs a no-holds-barred dressing down.
Both Fletcher and Murtough flew back to Manchester in complete shock after Ten Hag laid bare exactly what he feels is wrong with United.
One high-placed Old Trafford source said: "It was like United were being interviewed by Ten Hag rather than the other way round."
Red Devils chief executive Richard Arnold has since flown to the Dutch capital for a one-to-one meeting of his own with the man he hopes can rebuild the fractured fallen giants.
Ten Hag is said to have "ripped the United set-up apart" criticising mainly the scouting and recruitment policy.
The club has spent around £1billion on new players in the nine years since Sir Alex Ferguson retired but is in a worse state now than during the last three decades.
United officials initially took a few days to digest what ten Hag told them but concluded that, rather than be put out, they were impressed by his frank assessment and his vision for the club.
As revealed by SunSport, the club had already made him their No 1 target after an in-depth dossier was compiled on all the top candidates for the United job.
That included Paris Saint-Germain and former Tottenham boss Mauricio Pochettino. ten Hag does not want the overall power that the likes of Louis van Gaal and Jose Mourinho craved.
His interview made clear, however, that he believes the set-up behind the scenes needs a shake-up.
While both meetings with ten Hag were face-to-face, Poch’s was conducted on Zoom and things did not go as well.
The French giants have since complained to United about the public courting of their manager, even though he was not their first choice.
Pochettino spoke about how much money would be needed to overhaul the squad, many of which he was ready to let go.
PSG also wanted to hold out to get a more substantial release fee for a manager they look ready to sack anyway.