According to rumors, Manchester United believes Erik ten Hag can be their future manager for the next five years. The Ajax manager appears to be the leader for the Old Trafford job, ahead of Mauricio Pochettino and Thomas Tuchel. And this is a decision reached by the club after an extensive investigation.
This summer will mark the start of a new era at Manchester United, with the club eager to return to its past glory.
Ole Gunnar Solskjaer was seen as the man to bring back the glory days of former manager Sir Alex Ferguson, especially when the board awarded him a new deal in the summer.
However, Solskjaer was fired in November, and interim manager Ralf Rangnick has failed to improve the spirit around the club, particularly after their FA Cup and Champions League losses to Middlesbrough and Atletico Madrid, respectively.
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Until today, it had been rumored that Ten Hag was competing with Pochettino and Tuchel for the position of next manager at the club.
The Sun, however, reports that the 52-year-old is their top target after the club ‘prepared thorough background checks on each of their potential targets.’
United feels he can be their manager for at least the next five years, implying that will be the duration of his contract at Old Trafford if he is appointed.
The Red Devils also want to make an announcement before the end of the season so that their incoming manager can get started right away and participate in summer transfer plans.
Regarding Tuchel, it should be emphasized that the Chelsea manager has actually emerged as a fresh option as a result of the drama now raging behind the scenes at Stamford Bridge.
However, United is now prepared to go elsewhere, believing they may miss out on the German due to the ongoing drama of any possible Chelsea deal.
The board believes Ten Hag will be able to attract premium players, with names like Antony, Declan Rice, and Manuel Akanji being connected as the summer approaches.
They also believe that the Ajax manager’s upcoming hiring has the ability to keep some wantaway players.
Though no names have been mentioned, it’s possible that Ten Hag’s appointment at United will persuade fellow Dutchman Donny van de Beek to stay after the duo enjoyed a fruitful period together at Ajax.
On Ajax, the publication claims United will need to ‘negotiate’ with the Eredivisie club because his present deal expires at the end of the season.
If Ten Hag is appointed, he will become United’s seventh permanent manager since Ferguson’s left barely nine years ago.
David Moyes was the first to be appointed, after impressing Ferguson with his work at Everton, where he transformed the club into a solid and adventurous Premier League outfit.
Moyes, on the other hand, lasted only ten months before being fired after failing to lead the club into the Champions League spots.
Following Moyes, Louis van Gaal was granted the honor of taking over after United failed to recruit Jurgen Klopp, then of Borussia Dortmund, to Manchester.
Van Gaal won the FA Cup in 2016 but was fired the following year because, like Moyes, he was unable to guide the team into Europe’s top club competition.
When United signed Jose Mourinho as Van Gaal’s replacement, they thought they had found a winner.
They were initially proven correct, with the Portuguese mastermind orchestrating Community Shield, Carabao Cup, and Europa League triumphs in his first season in charge.
However, after falling out with many of his key players, he was fired in December 2018, with Solskjaer being recruited in as his permanent replacement following a successful interim tenure.
And it remains to be seen whether Ten Hag can succeed where his four predecessors, save Rangnick, failed.
Recently, the Ajax manager was questioned about a rumor that said he was honing his English skills in preparation for a move to the Premier League.
And Ten Hag responded with a smile: “No, that (report) is false!
“We (already) speak English at the club because there are many foreign players in Holland who are already schooled in English, so (it makes sense).””
