Erik ten Hag reportedly faces the prospect of a 25 per cent pay cut if Manchester United fail to qualify for next season’s Champions League and he keeps his job.
The Dutch coach is under intense pressure with United likely to fall short of a top four finish in the Premier League and a place in Europe’s top competition.
Although United have booked their place in another FA Cup final, the manner of Sunday’s semi-final win over Championship side Coventry – in which they chucked away a three-goal lead – only increased the scrutiny on their manager.
According to ESPN, if United fail to make the Champions League, it would trigger a 25 per cent pay cut for Ten Hag and several senior players on incentivised contracts.
This would see Ten Hag’s salary reduce from £9million-a-year to £6.75m and could potentially mean a less lucrative compensation package should United decide to fire him a year before his contract expires.
United sit seventh in the Premier League table ahead of Wednesday night’s visit of Sheffield United, some 16 points adrift of Aston Villa in fourth with two games in hand.
While mathematically not out of Champions League contention, their prospects of making up that gap appear slim and England’s poor performance in Europe this season means a fifth slot in the expanded group phase has receded.
Reports this week have claimed United privately accept replacing Ten Hag at the end of the season comes with a certain degree of risk – chiefly because there isn’t an outstanding candidate to replace him.
New minority owner Sir Jim Ratcliffe and his INEOS team – now in charge of football operations at Old Trafford – reportedly have reservations about certain candidates.
England boss Gareth Southgate and Graham Potter, latterly at Chelsea, have both been linked with the Old Trafford job. Thomas Tuchel will be available when he leaves Bayern Munich this summer.
Sporting Lisbon boss Ruben Amorim is also on United’s radar, despite being linked with Liverpool and West Ham.
United have also been impressed with the likes of Brighton boss Roberto De Zerbi, Thiago Motta and Michel, who have put Bologna and Girona on course for Champions League qualification on the back of extraordinary seasons in Serie A and LaLiga.
According to The Telegraph, however, questions remain over any of the trio would have the personality to handle the pressure of a club the size of United, particularly ahead of what is expected to be a summer of radical change on and off the field.
Ten Hag came out swinging over his future on Tuesday as he branded his critics ‘a disgrace’ following the backlash from the Coventry game, which United won on penalties.
Asked if he understood the reaction, the United boss said: ‘Absolutely not. You made (asked) the question, ‘is it embarrassing?’ No, the reaction from you was embarrassing. The comments are a disgrace.
‘Top football is about results. We made it to a final and we deserved it, not only by this game but also the other games. We lost control for 20 minutes, we also had bad luck for 3-2 and 3-3. We were very lucky in the end, clear.
‘We were not happy with it. I can see the fans are not happy with it as well, but they get fed by opinions.
‘But all over, what I heard is that the fans are very happy we are again in the FA Cup final.
‘Even for Manchester United, it is not business as usual. They were not so often in the FA Cup final.
‘The penalties were very good and we made it to the final. It is a huge achievement. Twice in two years is magnificent. For me as a manager, five cup finals in four years.’
