Erik ten Hag Stays at Man Utd

Erik ten Hag will stay as Manchester United manager after senior Old Trafford figures including Sir Jim Ratcliffe finally made a decision on his future.

United contemplating sacking Ten Hag despite last month’s surprise FA Cup final win against bitter rivals Manchester City, but they’ve now decided to stick with him ahead of the 2024-25 season. It was reported on Monday that Ratcliffe had even met former Chelsea and Bayern Munich manager Thomas Tuchel in Monaco over the weekend to gauge his interest in taking the job.

The lack of clarity on Ten Hag’s future led to major uncertainty at Old Trafford over the past fortnight, with co-owner Ratcliffe and director Sir Dave Brailsford carrying out a lengthy end-of-season review after United slumped to their worst-ever Premier League finish, eighth place – also their worst in the top flight since 1990.

That review culminated in the decision to keep Ten Hag, the Athletic report, and the Red Devils boss has agreed to remain in his post, despite being made to wait so long for a decision amid claims that he’d been undermined. Ratcliffe – who took over football operations at United in February through the sporting division of his petrochemicals company, INEOS – will now discuss extending Ten Hag’s contract beyond its current expiry date in June 2025.

Alongside Tuchel, England manager Gareth Southgate, ex-Chelsea boss Mauricio Pochettino, Brentford’s Thomas Frank, Ipswich’s Kieran McKenna and former Brighton head coach Roberto De Zerbi were all sounded out.

After taking the job two years ago, Ten Hag has marked both of his season with trophies. His tenure has coincided with a turbulent period at the club, with majority owners the Glazer family putting United up for sale in November 2022.

That led to Ratcliffe’s £1.3billion investment to own 27.7 per cent of the 20-time English champions. The Failsworth-born billionaire had refused to back Ten Hag publicly throughout the second half of the season, leaving his options open amid suggests that Southgate was his No.1 choice.

With this summer’s European Championship taking up the England boss’ focus, however, it was unlikely that a decision would be made before United began their pre-season campaign in early July. Ten Hag was bullish in his approach after lifting the FA Cup, saying: “If they don’t want me any more, I go somewhere else and win trophies, that’s what I’ve done my whole career.”

For now at least, he’s not going anywhere.

Source: Mirror