File image of Erik ten Hag© AFP
Erik ten Hag is set to remain as manager of Manchester United following a post-season performance review by club chiefs, British media reports said Tuesday. The BBC said United were understood to be talking to the Dutchman about extending his contract at Old Trafford, which is about to enter its final season. A poor second campaign for Ten Hag ended on a high note as he led United to a shock 2-1 victory in the FA Cup final against rivals Manchester City.
But the build-up to the match at Wembley was dominated by talk over Ten Hag’s future after a report said he would be sacked by United’s new co-owner Jim Ratcliffe regardless of the result.
United finished eighth in the Premier League — their lowest placing since 1990 — and crashed out of the Champions League at the group stage.
After the FA Cup final, the former Ajax boss, 54, admitted he did not know what the future held for him.
“The only thing I am doing is preparing my team, developing my team, progressing my team and individual players. This is for me a project,” he said.
“When I came in things were a mess. We are now better but by far not where we want to be.”
Various managers have been linked with the United job since the end of the season.
Ratcliffe was reported to have held talks with Thomas Tuchel last week as speculation mounted over Ten Hag’s future but the former Bayern Munich and Chelsea boss reportedly ruled himself out of the running.
The club’s interest in Mauricio Pochettino is understood to have cooled even though he is now a free agent after leaving Chelsea.
Other managers linked to United have been Graham Potter, Thomas Frank, Roberto De Zerbi and current England boss Gareth Southgate.
Ten Hag ended a six-year trophy drought for United in his first season by lifting the League Cup in 2023 and finished third in the league, encouraging fans that they might launch a Premier League title bid in 2023/24.
But they lost 14 games and ended with a negative goal difference, finishing a whopping 31 points behind champions Manchester City.
Ten Hag is United’s fifth permanent manager since the end of Alex Ferguson’s trophy-filled reign in 2013, following David Moyes, Louis van Gaal, Jose Mourinho and Ole Gunnar Solskjaer.
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