Krishnan Sreekumar
Manchester United managerial target Erik ten Hag taking English lessons ahead of rumoured move
According to the Daily Mail, Ajax Amsterdam manager Erik ten Hag has been taking English lessons ahead of a rumoured move to Manchester United in the summer.
United are searching for a new permanent manager ahead of the new season, and the club are said to have identified ten Hag as a potential candidate for the job. The manager is currently busy trying to lead his side to a third straight Eredivisie title in the Netherlands.
Interim manager Ralf Rangnick is currently occupying the manager’s seat in the dugout at Old Trafford, but is expected to move upstairs to a consultancy role with the Red Devils after his tenure as boss expires in the summer.
The German has done a fair job in Manchester since taking over late last year, guiding the club to fourth place in the Premier League table and losing only once in the English top-flight. Despite these results, the club is looking for other options as a permanent manager in the summer.
English lesson for ten Hag
The Ajax boss is said to want a move to United at the end of the season, and the Dutch side is understood to be aware of this following recent internal talks. Only time will tell whether we see ten Hag in charge at the Theatre of Dreams ahead of the new campaign.
The Dutchman was seen studying English so as to ensure he has a fluent grasp of the language if a move to England materialises in the summer. It is important not to jump to conclusions, however, as the manager’s desire to learn the language could very well be to speak English fluently in case of a need in the future.
If rumours are to be believed, then United will have managed to catch the attention of an excellent manager in the business. A two-time Eredivisie champion with Ajax, the Dutchman would come to Old Trafford with an excellent history of winning trophies.
Unlike Rangnick or Ole Gunnar Solskjaer in the past, ten Hag has recently-won league titles in his kitty as his advantage in the race to land the permanent manager job in Manchester. This augurs well for the club, given our last trophy win was in 2017.
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Not only this, but ten Hag has been in charge of some excellent players in the Ajax team, most of whom have been academy players. United are proud of their knack for developing future stars at Carrington, and in many ways, the Dutchman looks to be a perfect fit for the English club.
Donny van de Beek’s return to the club in the summer may also help ten Hag settle into Manchester if he manages to get the job, given that the player and head coach have worked together in the past and won league titles in Holland before. van de Beek was a key member of ten Hag’s young team that reached the semi-finals of the Champions League in the 2018/19 season.
