Manchester United will be heading into the 2024-25 season with the same manager. After news broke out on Tuesday from The Athletic, it has become clear that Erik ten Hag will remain the Man United manager and will get the chance to lead the team into his third season at the helm.
After a prolonged end-of-season review from the club hierarchy, the decision is to keep the Dutchman in the dugout and Ten Hag himself has also agreed to remain at Old Trafford. There were talks held between the parties after United were linked with numerous managers this month, as potential replacements should Ten Hag be relieved of his duties.
Among those mentioned, Gareth Southgate was the one linked the most, with journalists suggesting their sources claimed some of the senior figures at the club would really like to see the England national team coach replace Ten Hag. But that idea had its own issues, as United would have been unable to strike a deal with Southgate before the European Championship ends and considering England could still be at the tournament well into July, it was clear this was never going to be a simple decision.
And now that United chose to keep Ten Hag, there will potentially be talks about extending his terms with the club. Ten Hag’s current deal runs until next June, with the option of extending it for another 12 months. Whatever might happen on that front, it is clear now that the club will be able to focus properly on the transfer window, while Ten Hag will have to improve drastically on his second season at the club. The FA Cup triumph over Man City maybe allowed United to keep him at the club as fans were eager to see that happen, but then again, the club needed weeks to decide on his future. Ten Hag was on thin ice and now improvements will be needed right away.
Another important aspect of this prolonged decision is that Ten Hag’s role is expected to be changed. He will now be expected to become more of a head coach figure, as the club will want to give him a back-seat role in player recruitment. As Man United are restructuring the club’s hierarchy, this would mean the leaders of the sporting section would be the ones leading the work on transfers in and out, while Ten Hag will probably have a much weaker influence, especially in regards to players coming in.
It is good that Man United have made their decision, because this whole storyline was threatening to take away way too much time and energy while other clubs were preparing their transfer dealings. Sure, a positive thing about the Euros kicking in this Friday is that there are going to be less moves in the market while the tournament is going on, but nevertheless, Man United have a lot of work to do if they are to make drastic improvements on 2023-24 season.
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