Krishnan Sreekumar
Ajax Amsterdam manager Erik ten Hag refuses to discuss Manchester United interest
As quoted by Trouw (h/t Daily Mail), Ajax Amsterdam boss Erik ten Hag has refused to comment on the vacant Manchester United permanent manager’s job in the summer, saying that he was fully focused on Ajax at the moment.
Ralf Rangnick is expected to step down at the end of the season to make way for a new face in the manager’s seat at the dugout at Old Trafford. The German was only brought in by the club late last year in an interim role after they dismissed Ole Gunnar Solskjaer.
ten Hag refused to say more about the job in Manchester next season, saying that he has no thoughts on the future and that he was only working with the Dutch champions at the moment. However, the Dutch giants are aware of the manager’s intentions of leaving this summer.
“At the moment, I am only working with Ajax and have no further thoughts on the future.”
Ajax are currently leading the Eredivisie table, and are on course to win the title for the third straight time. Interestingly, it was under ten Hag that the club won the previous two league titles as well.
“I shouldn’t be the theme”
The Dutchman has been linked with the Manchester United job in the summer, with his impressive track record in the Netherlands making him a strong candidate for the current vacancy at the Theatre of Dreams.
However, ten Hag seems keen to shut down these rumours as he waved away the spotlight on him and said that his focus was on the current season with Ajax and that he should not be the main theme of discussion.
“The focus is on this season. Right now I shouldn’t be the theme. The theme is: how are we going to win games?”
The Red Devils have publicly announced that they have started the process of identifying the next manager for the club, saying that they were going ahead with a thorough search to make sure the right person is handpicked for the job.
With the club trophyless since 2017 and their rivals getting ahead of them in the past decade, the side has fallen from grace with mediocre results and no clear system in place for improvement. This season as well, United are struggling to ensure a top-four finish in the Premier League.
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ten Hag’s success at Ajax and his knack for working with and developing young academy players makes him an attractive option for the Manchester club, who could continue his fine job at Old Trafford and work with the youngsters coming through at Carrington.
The 52-year-old Ajax boss is said to be the popular choice of current United boss Rangnick, and his seal of approval could help the Dutchman land the job in the summer. Only time will tell if he swaps Holland for England at the end of the current campaign. We could certainly do a lot worse than him.
