Manchester United are set to finalise the appointment of Erik ten Hag as the club’s next manager, according to reports.
Ten Hag, who was interviewed by United last month, had been on a four-man shortlist alongside PSG’s Mauricio Pochettino, Spain coach Luis Enrique and Sevilla’s Lopetegui after Chelsea’s Thomas Tuchel and Bayern’s Julian Nagelsmann were ruled out as being unattainable due to their commitment to their present employers.
Sources in England and the Netherlands have told ESPN that United have settled on Ten Hag as their new manager and that he is ready to leave the Dutch champions to take charge at Old Trafford at the end of the campaign.
United’s pursuit of a new manager has been led by football director John Murtough and technical director Darren Fletcher, who have reported to chief executive Richard Arnold, with joint-chairman Joel Glazer having the last decision on the appointment.
While some at United considered Pochettino, Arnold and Glazer are in agreement that Ten Hag is the best candidate to take over from interim manager Ralf Rangnick, who has been in charge since last December.
The choice for Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s successor came down to a straight battle between Ten Hag and Pochettino but the difficulties experienced by Pochettino at PSG, combined with the potential cost of releasing him from the remaining 12 months of his contract at Paris, left him behind Ten Hag for both football and financial reasons.
Pochettino had initially been United’s favoured candidate to replace Solskjaer, who was fired by United a month short of his third anniversary as manager last November, and they were aware that the 50-year-old would be open to a move to Old Trafford after struggling at PSG.
But PSG’s Champions League exit at the round-of-16 stage against Real Madrid, having led 2-0 in the tie, did not help his cause with the Red devils job due to the club’s determination to avoid hiring a manager deemed to have failed in a recent role.
PSG’s readiness to hold out for a £15m compensation package was another issue for United, who are able appoint Ten Hag if they pay a just £1.7m compensation figure to Ajax.
Sources added that Rene Meulensteen, first team coach under Sir Alex Ferguson from 2007-13, is being considered as Ten Hag’s assistant. The recruitment department at United have also been told to finalise shortlists on players in each position and present them to the new manager, though he will also be allowed to present his own targets.
