Manchester United manager Erik ten Hag reportedly has the support of a number of key figures at the club amid uncertainty over whether he will remain at Old Trafford beyond this summer.
Reports emerged on Friday that club chiefs had made the decision to sack Ten Hag after Saturday’s FA Cup final following an eighth-place finish in the Premier League, even if United managed to beat their arch-rivals Manchester City at Wembley.
The Red Devils were given very little chance of pulling off an upset, but they stunned Pep Guardiola’s men with arguably their best performance of the season to win 2-1, handing Ten Hag his second trophy in as many campaigns at Old Trafford.
New part-owners INEOS, headed by Sir Jim Ratcliffe and Sir Dave Brailsford, are now conducting an end-of-season review to determine his future, and a number of prominent figures behind the scenes are keen for Ten Hag to stay, according to The Independent.
It looks set to be an anxious wait for the Dutchman as United have already spoken to candidates who could potentially replace him.
They have held talks with Mauricio Pochettino, Thomas Frank, Kieran McKenna and Thomas Tuchel about taking over the United hotseat.
Brailsford is also known to be an admirer of Gareth Southgate, but the England boss has insisted he will not consider speaking to clubs until after this summer’s Euros.
Yet United could now stick with Ten Hag, with club chiefs aware that removing him from his position would be an unpopular move with the fanbase following Saturday’s unexpected victory over City.
It is understood that the club’s new structure is not ‘split’ over whether to stand by Ten Hag, but they are set to consider all options before making a decision this week on whether he should stay or not.
Ten Hag was in a defiant mood following the final whistle on Saturday as he made a desperate last pitch to keep his job, claiming the club ‘was a mess’ when he first arrived in 2022.
He also took a cheeky dig at the managerial record of United legend Roy Keane, as he pointed out the difficulties he had faced at the club this season due to an unprecedented number of injuries.
He received plenty of support from the United fans inside Wembley, and supporters took to social media to call for him to be given another chance to turn things around next term following the team’s worst-ever finish in the Premier League.
But Ratcliffe refused to be drawn on his future as he walked through the Wembley media zone on Saturday evening, refusing to answer a reporter’s question on whether he was planning to sack Ten Hag even after winning the first trophy of the INEOS era.
