Euro giants ‘to approach’ Ten Hag with Ratcliffe ‘concerned’ about Man Utd boss ‘favouring’ four stars
According to reports, Eredivisie giants Ajax are planning to ‘approach’ Manchester United head coach Erik ten Hag over returning to the Dutch club.
Ten Hag left Ajax ahead of the 2022/23 campaign to become Man Utd’s new manager. With the Dutch giants, the 54-year-old lifted the Eredivisie title on three occasions.
Ajax targeting Ten Hag
The Dutchman enjoyed a strong debut season at Old Trafford as they won the Carabao Cup and finished third in the Premier League last season but they have declined massively this term.
Man Utd suffered disappointing exits from the Champions League and Carabao Cup, while they face Liverpool in the next round of the FA Cup. In the Premier League, sixth-placed United are eight points adrift of Aston Villa in fourth.
Ajax have also struggled in recent years. They have had five interim or permanent managers in the dugout since the start of the 2022/23 campaign and they are currently fifth in the Eredivisie.
John van ‘t Schip has been Ajax’s interim boss since October 2023. He has won 12 of his 24 games in charge across all competitions and he is expected to be replaced in the summer.
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According to Football Insider, Ajax’s board are ‘keen to re-appoint Ten Hag’ and they are ‘planning to approach’ the Dutchman over a return.
Ajax CEO Alex Kroes is ‘eager’ to reunite with Ten Hag, who is coming under ‘growing pressure’ at Man Utd.
Ten Hag ‘favouring’ four players?
Regarding claims suggesting new co-owner Sir Jim Ratcliffe and INEOS have ‘concerns’ about Sports Entertainment Group (the agency which represents Ten Hag), the report explains.
‘The pair have strong links to the agency Sports Entertainment Group (SEG), which was co-founded by Kroes, represents ten Hag and employs his son Nigel.
‘Controversially, multiple United signings under Ten Hag are represented by SEG, including Rasmus Hojlund, Andre Onana, Sofyan Amrabat and Antony.
‘There have been concerns from the new Man United regime, headed by Sir Jim Ratcliffe, regarding SEG’s influence and how their clients have been favoured at the club.
‘SEG have also negotiated multiple player sales during Ten Hag’s tenure in Manchester.’
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Man Utd qualifying for the Champions League would boost Ten Hag’s chances of keeping his job and Bruno Fernandes has insisted that they “want to try to get as close as possible” to those positions.
“It is actually,” Fernandes said when asked if all of United’s remaining matches are big games.
“Obviously we know that this season is not being (as) good as we want, so we want to improve as much as we can until the end of the season.
“Improve obviously position-wise because we want to try to get as close as possible to the Champions League spots.
“We know that we don’t depend only on ourselves, but we have to do our job like we did today and win our games.”
