Ten Hag in line for MAJOR coaching job days after Man Utd sacking

Milan Keskin

• 31 Oct 2024 09:45 GMT
• 3 min read

Erik ten Hag might only have been sacked by Manchester United on Monday, but the former Ajax boss is in line to land a job coaching in the Champions League.

While it seems improbable that he will go back into work so quickly after losing a high-pressure job at Old Trafford, the 54-year-old is being linked with the head coach role at Borussia Dortmund by the German media.

At BVB, Nuri Sahin finds himself under pressure just weeks after replacing Edin Terzic as the boss in Dortmund.

Sahin’s side are a very disappointing seventh position in the Bundesliga. With only 13 points from eight games, things are not going well for Sahin and his associates in Dortmund. The departures of Marco Reus (La Galaxy), Mats Hummels (AS Roma) and Ian Maatsen (Aston Villa) among others, do not seem to have been fully absorbed by last season's Champions League finalist.

All this has the pressure building on the 36-year-old Sahin, who could be sacked in the coming weeks.

Why Dortmund want Ten Hag

Former Benfica boss Roger Schmidt is thought to be the leading candidate to replace Sahin at at Signal Iduna Park, but Ten Hag is also now being linked with the post.

The Dutchman’s time at Ajax is thought to be a motivating factor behind the links to Dortmund. During his time at Amsterdam, he showed he has a keen eye for the development of young talents such as Frenkie de Jong and Matthijs de Ligt. Even at Man Utd, he introduced Kobbie Mainoo to the first team.

Under his leadership, Dortmund could see young players such as Maximilian Beier and Jamie Gittens develop into important links within the team, according to the German media.

Ten Hag also has experience of coaching in Germany. After the coach managed to promote Go Ahead Eagles to the Eredivisie in 2013, he chose to work as coach of Bayern Munich II. The coach worked closely with current Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola in Bavaria, whom he later met again in the Premier League.

It may be, however, that Ten Hag simply wants to take stock of his current situation after a couple of high-pressure years at Man Utd and wants to take a break from the game.