Ten Hag ‘confident’ incoming Man Utd investor Ratcliffe will ‘give him time’ despite secret Potter meeting

Erik ten Hag is ‘confident’ that incoming Manchester United investor Sir Jim Ratcliffe will give him time to impress, according to reports.

The Red Devils enjoyed a positive first season under Ten Hag with the Dutchman guiding them to a FA Cup final, League Cup silverware and a top-four finish in the Premier League.

But Ten Hag has so far failed to build on his impressive work last season with Man Utd having a poor campaign this term.

Man Utd are currently sixth in the Premier League after their humiliating 3-0 defeat to Bournemouth on Saturday, while they are already out the League Cup and crashed out of Europe altogether on Tuesday night.

A 1-0 defeat to Bayern Munich saw the Red Devils finish rock bottom of their Champions League group, despite scoring 12 goals, meaning they also missed out on a place in the Europa League.

And that has seen more pressure piled on Ten Hag and his job with a number of reports now linking different managers to his position.

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One report claimed that former Wolves and Real Madrid boss Julen Lopetegui is ‘very well placed’ to take over from Ten Hag if Man Utd choose to sack him, while ex-Chelsea manager Graham Potter has reportedly held a secret meeting with INEOS owner Ratcliffe.

And now The Sun claims that Ten Hag is ‘confident he will be given time to present his vision for the future to Manchester United’s new regime’.

Despite having a tricky trip to Anfield to play Liverpool at the weekend, Ten Hag reckons he will stay in the job long enough to ‘get the chance to impress incoming investor Jim Ratcliffe to outline how he plans to overhaul the squad at United in the summer – which is likely to involve another big clear out’.

And sources have told The Sun that the Man Utd hierarchy ‘remain firmly behind the current boss – despite a worrying first half of the season which has seen them lose half of their 24 games’.

Speaking after losing to Bayern and exiting European competitions, Ten Hag told reporters: “There are still many things to play for now, we can focus on the Premier League.

“This is the level we want to play, the Champions League, so we have to give every effort to get into the top four so next year we are back in the Champions League – and of course there is the FA Cup so there are still many things to play for.”