Erik ten Hag will be the new Manchester United manager starting this summer. The English club announced the expected decision on Thursday after club finalized its agreement with Ajax, the Dutch coach’s current side. He will come to Old Trafford with a deal which runs until 2025 with an option to extend for a further year.
“Manchester United is delighted to announce the appointment of Erik ten Hag as Men’s First Team Manager, subject to work visa requirements, from the end of this season until June 2025, with the option to extend for a further year”, the club said in a statement.
“It is a great honor to be appointed manager of Manchester United and I am hugely excited by the challenge ahead. I know the history of this great club and the passion of the fans, and I am absolutely determined to develop a team capable of delivering the success they deserve,” ten Hag said. “It will be difficult to leave Ajax after these incredible years, and I can assure our fans of my complete commitment and focus on bringing this season to a successful conclusion before I move to Manchester United”.
The future Man United manager coached Ajax for the last four and a half seasons and won two titles, two Dutch cups and one Supercup. Before taking over at Ajax ten Hag coached the second team of Bayern Munich when Pep Guardiola was the manager of the first team, working closely during the 2013/14 and 2014/15 seasons in Germany. They will now face off next season in the Manchester derby, one of the biggest rivalries in the Premier League. Ten Hag then managed at Utrecht before taking the Ajax job.
Manchester United are looking to start a new era with the goal of bringing back the club to its glory days and ten Hag was considered by the current board as the ideal man to do that, beating out other candidates like PSG’s Mauricio Pochettino. The Red Devils sacked former club legend Ole Gunnar Solskjaer last November and he was replaced by German coach Ralf Rangnick as caretaker manager until the end of the season. Rangnick is expected to stay at the club as consultant at season’s end, as was announced when he was appointed.
Manchester United are currently sixth in Premier League and are fighting to qualify for the next edition of the UEFA Champions League.
