Erik ten Hag will continue as Manchester United manager after surviving co-owner Sir Jim Ratcliffe’s weeks-long review of the club’s season, sources told The Athletic’s David Ornstein.
The Guardian’s Jacob Steinberg reported last month that Ten Hag would lose his job regardless of the outcome of the FA Cup final. United beat Manchester City 2-1 at Wembley Stadium to win England’s oldest tournament.
Now the Red Devils are discussing extending Ten Hag’s contract, according to Ornstein. The Dutchman’s current deal has 12 more months left to run and an option for a further season.
United reportedly approached former Bayern Munich manager Thomas Tuchel, ex-Brighton & Hove Albion coach Roberto De Zerbi, and Mauricio Pochettino, who’s out of work after leaving Chelsea, as potential replacements. Brentford’s Thomas Frank and Ipswich Town’s Kieran McKenna were also considered.
After winning the FA Cup, Ten Hag said he was unsure if he’d be back for a third campaign.
“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,” the manager said. “When I came in, things were a mess. We are now better, but by far not where we want to be.”
Ten Hag lifted the League Cup in his year in charge and led United to a third-place finish. But the club stammered through the 2023-24 season with a Premier League-leading 45 injuries and ultimately settled for eighth place, the worst it’s ever finished in the Premier League era.
“We didn’t have the players,” Ten Hag said. “We have seen the same things, not always good football, definitely not, but we had to make compromises all the time, and then you can’t play the football you want to play.”
