Erika ten Haag has a bigger job at Manchester United than Sir Alex Ferguson did at the start of his career in 1986.
Manchester United and Ajax have confirmed that the 52-year-old Dutchman will lead the team from "Old Trafford" starting next season. Ten Haag signed a two-year contract with the struggling English giant, with an option to continue the cooperation after that. The Dutch team profited from this deal, since United will allocate 1,7 million pounds for the transfer, because Ten Haag's contract with Ajax expires only next season.
On Tuesday, United was convincingly defeated by Liverpool, they conceded four goals at "Anfield" and the current coach of Ajax has a big job waiting for him. First of all, the reconstruction of the team and possible parting with about 18 players, writes Sky.
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Manchester is threatened with an exodus, and the players are divided into three groups - footballers whose contract expires at the end of the season, players who are entering the last year of their contract and players who might not want to go, but will have to because they will not be in the squad, writes Sky.
When it comes to players whose contracts expire, the list includes Edinson Cavani, Nemanja Matic, reserve goalkeeper Lee Grant, Paul Pogba, Jesse Lingard and Juan Mata. Manchester won't hold them back...
Matic confirmed that he is leaving the team at the end of the season, Cavani is wanted by Barcelona and Atletico, Mata will return to Spain and is not ready to retire, Lingard is disappointed with his treatment after returning from his loan from West Ham, while Grant did not get a chance and will look for a new challenge .
Finally, parting will follow with Paul Pogba - the Frenchman will move to either Juventus or PSG.
There are also players entering the final season of their contracts - Luke Shaw, Diego Dalo, Tom Heaton, Marcus Rashford, Phil Jones, Fred, David de Gea and Cristiano Ronaldo.
Ronaldo has known for a long time that it is not a challenge to play in the Europa League, where United will, by all accounts, end up at the end of the season. He has scored some important goals this season, but the team doesn't seem to match his qualities.
David de Gea's contract also expires at the end of the next season - the Spaniard has the option to extend the cooperation, he recently said that he sees himself at Old Trafford, but now everything depends on Ten Haag and his ideas.
Rashford suffered under Solskjaer and Rangnik, with the arrival of Sancho and Ronaldo, he fell into the background, he rarely gets a chance, and as the World Cup approaches, he could look for a new midfielder in the desire for more playing time, in order to fight for the national team jersey.
Three years ago, everyone was surprised when Phil Jones extended his contract until 2023 with an option to continue the cooperation. The stopper fell into oblivion, he played only the second match against Liverpool in 2022, and in total he played two matches in 2020 and 2021.
Diego Dalo and Luke Shaw are projected to be sold, but Fred is the biggest mystery. He plays well at Rangnik, and by selling Matić and Pogba, he would get more minutes and a role.
In the third group are players who might not want to go, but will have to because they will not be in the squad. These are goalkeepers Tim Heaton and Dean Henderson, Erik Baji and footballers who are currently on loan - Antoni Marial and Brandon Williams.
Interestingly, Sky does not write what will happen to captain Harry Maguire.
The situation at United is also dealt with by "Daily Mail", which presents a list of potential reinforcements. This newspaper writes that Ten Haag will have around 200 million euros available, and the list of reinforcements is as follows - Harry Kane, Declan Rice, Darvin Nunes and Ruben Neves.
If there is a parting with a large number of players, the list of potential reinforcements could be longer.
Ten Haag is the fifth permanent manager since the era of Sir Alex Ferguson (Gigs and Carrick, as well as Rangnik are temporary), and the second Dutchman on the bench in the history of Manchester United. Louis van Gaal, who succeeded David Moyes in 2014, stayed at the "Theater of Dreams" before him.
Van Gaal won only one FA Cup with the Devils (2016). It is also one of the three Devils' trophies in the post-Ferguson era.
Ten Haag will try to be more successful than his compatriots.
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