New Manchester United sporting director Dan Ashworth explains the decision to stick with Erik ten Hag
Manchester United’s new sporting director, Dan Ashworth, has come out to explain the club’s decision to hand Erik ten Hag a new contract extension.
“With two trophies in the past two seasons, Erik ten Hag has reinforced his record as one of the most consistently successful coaches in European football.
“We decided that Erik was the best partner for us to work with in driving up standards and outcomes.”
Ashworth on Ten Hag’s contract extension. Quotes provided by Fabrizio Romano via X.
Ashworth’s arrival at Old Trafford has finally been confirmed after months of negotiations between Manchester United and Newcastle United, the latter of whom had put Ashworth on gardening leave in February once the Red Devils made contact with him.
Ten Hag, on the other hand, who was reportedly set to be sacked after the FA Cup final regardless of the result, earned himself a lifeline after an impressive final win over Man City, winning his second trophy with United in as many seasons.
Ten Hag’s new contract is set to run until the end of the 2025/26 season.
Read between the lines
For marketing and political reasons, INEOS-led United are not going to come out bluntly and say, “Look, our hands were tied. We had to stick with him for the time being,” but that is exactly what they have done here.
Just look at the extension Ten Hag has been handed and ask yourself when was the last time ownership gave a manager only one more year on their new contract. Even owners only semi-confident in their employees go for multiple years in extension for asset protection. Not here, though, and that says a lot.
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The most important thing for United here, however, is that Dan Ashworth has arrived, and while Ten Hag buys himself some time on the pitch, Ashworth, Jason Wilcox, and Omar Berrada can go about building United’s footballing hierarchy above him and eventually implement a long-term solution.
