Sacked in the morning? Ten Hag reveals what Man Utd’s owners have told him about his future

Robin Bairner

25 May 2024 09:15 BST
2 min read

Manchester United manager Erik ten Hag has dismissed reports that he is about to be sacked by the Old Trafford club, insisting that the club’s owners have told him they expect him to remain in his post for next season.

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Ten Hag admitted that it has been a “rubbish” season by the standards of the Premier League giants but stressed that a “really bizarre” number of injuries have made his life impossible.

While this has led to reports that the former Ajax boss will be sacked regardless of the outcome of Saturday's FA Cup final against Manchester City, the manager is insistent that these run contrary to what the club’s top brass is telling him.

Asked by Voetbal International what he is hearing from new minority owner Sir Jim Ratcliffe and his INEOS group, Ten Hag was honest.

“I hear that the new owners want to change everything but want to build with me. At least that is what they say directly to me and what they have expressed to me,” he said.

Ten Hag evasive on Ratcliffe’s success

Ten Hag says that it has been all change at the club since the Ratcliffe-led takeover was completed earlier this year, although he stopped short of saying that it will definitely be a success.

“When I arrived, it was already uneasy, because the club was in a transition phase, but now, with the changing of the guard, everything has been turned upside down,” he said. “And let it be clear that this does not necessarily have to be bad for the club, because all intentions will undoubtedly be good. Time will tell.”

Should Ten Hag win the FA Cup, it would be his second Manchester United trophy following last season’s Carabao Cup, and if he were to be sacked in the aftermath, it would be reminiscent of Louis van Gaal’s 2016 departure from the club after he won the famous competition.