MANCHESTER UNITED SIGN MANAGER ERIK TEN HAG TO NEW CONTRACT EXTENSION
Manchester United have signed manager Erik ten Hag to a one-year contract extension, the English club announced on Thursday.
Ten Hag was hired by Manchester United as the team’s head coach in April 2022. The Dutchman was headed into the final season of his three-year contract this summer and now sees another year added to his United tenure. The new deal keeps ten Hag at Old Trafford until June 30th 2026.
“I am very pleased to have reached an agreement with the club to continue working together,” said ten Hag. “Looking back at the past two years, we can reflect with pride on two trophies and many examples of progression from where we were when I joined. However, we must also be clear that there is still lots of hard work ahead to reach the levels expected of Manchester United, which means challenging for English and European titles.”
“In my discussions with the club, we have found complete unity in our vision for reaching those goals, and we are all strongly committed to making that journey together.”
Manchester United and new minority owners INEOS made the decision to stick with ten Hag last month after many believed that the club would make a managerial change following an end of the season review. United had reportedly made the decision to sack ten Hag after the FA Cup final in May but an upset 2-1 win over defending champions Manchester City complicated the matter.
The new extension comes just four days after United secured the services of former Newcastle United technical director Dan Ashworth as their new sporting director, following a four-month standoff with the Tyneside club. United also confirmed that they’d appointed former Chelsea technical director Christopher Vivell as their new director of recruitment on a short-term basis to help with the summer transfer window, talent ID and overall recruitment.
Ashworth said regarding ten Hag’s new deal “With two trophies in the past two seasons, Erik has reinforced his record as one of the most consistently successful coaches in European football. While the club’s review of last season highlighted areas for improvement, it also reached a clear conclusion that Erik was the best partner for us to work with in driving up standards and outcomes.”
“This group of players and staff have already shown they are capable of competing and winning at the top level. Now we need to do it more consistently. With our strengthened football leadership team now in place, we are looking forward to working hand-in-hand with Erik to achieve our shared ambitions for this football club.”
Ten Hag guided an injury-riddled Manchester United team to a lowly 8th-place in the league standings, 8 points off the top four and 30 points adrift of champions Manchester City. He also saw the club lose a record 14 matches and concede the second-most chances in the league, only giving up less chances than 20th-place Sheffield United. The club’s 58 conceded goals was also the most in a single campaign in 50 years, going back to the 1973/74 season.
United were knocked out in the group stages of the UEFA Champions League last season but also missed out on any European qualification via their position in the league and had to depend on an FA Cup victory to secure European football this season. The team also finished the year with a negative goal difference of -1.
Contrary to expectations that United would improve in ten Hag’s second season, the team took a step back from its third-place Premier League finish during the 2022/23 campaign and quite spectacularly put in subpar performances throughout the season. The most notable performances came in devastating defeats against Crystal Palace (4-0), Brighton (4-0), Manchester City (3-0), Newcastle United in the Carabao Cup (3-0), Fulham at Old Trafford (2-1), and Bournemouth (3-0).
While it remains common knowledge that United need to improve under Erik ten Hag for him to deserve any sort of long-term security, the new hierarchy at the club reportedly has faith in the Dutchman and believe he can still be the man to bring sustained success at Old Trafford.
According to multiple reports, the team is currently negotiating a double move for former United striker Ruud van Nistelrooy and Go Ahead Eagles manager René Hake to join the club as part of ten Hag’s coaching staff next season.
Hake, whose appointment was confirmed by United last week, is set to be joined by Van Nistelrooy, who was recently the head coach at PSV Eindhoven, where he won the Johan Cruyff Shield and the KNVB Cup in his first season before resigning near the end of the 2022/23 season. Both deals are considered votes of confidence in Erik ten Hag as United gives the Haaksbergen-born manager every possible piece he needs to succeed.
-Maher Abucheri
Twitter: @pabloikonyero
Photo: Arne Museler. This file is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 Germany license.