Manchester United will hand the reins over to Erik ten Hag, announcing Thursday that the 52-year-old will become the club’s new permanent manager this summer.
The Ajax boss, who will continue his duties at the Dutch club until the Eredivisie season concludes, has agreed to a three-year contract that will keep him at Old Trafford until June 2025. The deal includes an option to extend his stay a further year.
“It is a great honor to be appointed manager of Manchester United and I am hugely excited by the challenge ahead,” Ten Hag said.
“I know the history of this great club and the passion of the fans, and I am absolutely determined to develop a team capable of delivering the success they deserve.”
“It will be difficult to leave Ajax after these incredible years, and I can assure our fans of my complete commitment and focus on bringing this season to a successful conclusion before I move to Manchester United.”
Ten Hag will replace interim manager Ralf Rangnick, who has struggled to turn United’s season around since taking over for Ole Gunnar Solskjaer in November.
The announcement came after Ajax finalized the terms of his reported €2-million release clause, according to The Guardian’s Fabrizio Romano and Jamie Jackson.
With Ten Hag at the helm, United hope for similar success that followed his appointment at Ajax in 2017. Ten Hag played a significant role in reshaping the club, helping to end its four-year Eredivisie drought with league titles in 2019 and 2021 (Ajax were top of the league in 2020 before the season was abandoned due to COVID-19).
Ajax currently have a four-point lead atop the Eredivisie table with five games remaining.
The challenge at United, however, is undoubtedly greater. The Dutch coach will have the task of resolving the countless issues plaguing the club for almost a decade since its last Premier League triumph in 2013.
Player recruitment is understood to be one of his main responsibilities, with The Guardian reporting that the team expects to give Ten Hag the final say on transfers moving forward.
Ten Hag is Manchester United’s fifth permanent manager since Sir Alex Ferguson retired nine years ago.
United are currently in danger of missing out on qualifying for next season’s Champions League. The Red Devils are four points back of fourth place with five matches left and trail a Tottenham Hotspur side that has a game in hand.
