Manchester United have reportedly followed up their interview with Erik ten Hag by sounding out Ajax for the compensation fee it will take to land the Dutch coach this summer.
Interim boss Ralf Rangnick will move upstairs into a consultancy role and Ten Hag is among the leading candidates for the job, along with Paris Saint-Germain’s Mauricio Pochettino and Spain manager Luis Enrique.
But Sky Sports report that since interviewing Ten Hag last week, as revealed by Sportsmail, Old Trafford chiefs have been conducting ‘due diligence’ on the Ajax boss, including discovering the compensation requited to prise him from the Amsterdam club.
Manchester United have reportedly explored the compensation package of Erik ten Hag
John Murtough (left) and Darren Fletcher (right) have been overseeing the process of appointing a new manager at Manchester United ahead of next season
The 52-year-old Ajax coach will be one of a number of candidates that get interviewed but the Dutchman remains the bookmakers’ favourite.
United hope to make a decision before the end of next month and have the new man in place as soon as possible after the end of the season.
Ten Hag has led Ajax to two Eredivisie and KNVB Cup doubles and his side are currently two points ahead in the title race with PSV Eindhoven with seven games to go.
Ajax also have to navigate a KNVB Cup final against PSV on April 17.
Ten Hag (pictured) has enjoyed plenty of success in a five-year spell in charge of Ajax
Ralf Rangnick is the current interim boss at United but will move into a new role this summer
Despite United downplaying Ten Hag as the sole frontrunner, there is a growing expectancy at Ajax that their title-winning coach will be on the move come the end of the season.
Sportsmail understands compensation for Ten Hag would fall in the region of £4million.
While Ten Hag is among Europe’s most exciting coaches having thrived with young players at Ajax, former Manchester United boss Louis Van Gaal this week urged Ten Hag not to take the United manager’s job, warning they are more of a business than a football club.
Van Gaal – sacked by United hours after lifting the FA Cup in 2016 – told his fellow Dutchman to look elsewhere for his next job.
‘Erik ten Hag is a great manager and that’s good for Manchester United, but Manchester United are a commercial club,’ Van Gaal said.
‘I’m not going to advise him but he should choose a football club, not a commercial one.’
Mauricio Pochettino (left) is also said to be in contention for the United job alongside Ten Hag
On the shortlist, Spain manager Luis Enrique is an outside shot to come in at Old Trafford
But former Holland and Liverpool star Dirk Kuyt feels Manchester United would be getting a ‘great’ manager in Ten Hag if he does leave Amsterdam in the summer.
‘Ten Hag is a great, experienced coach. He’s done his apprenticeship, if you like, with Bayern Munich’s second team, then Utrecht and now at Ajax,’ Kuyt told Goal.
‘He is a great manager who has improved himself so much, on and off the pitch.
‘I know some people were doubting his level of speaking English, his performance in front of the camera, but you see him growing every week as a manager, and I think he can do a great job at any top side in Europe.
‘His tactics, his way of thinking about football, is very interesting, and it would be great if he was to get an opportunity at a top side.’
Source: DailyMail Sports
