Manchester United fans are eagerly awaiting the Erik ten Hag era to properly begin, but the Dutchman has already started work behind the scenes in what promises to be a huge summer for the club.
The former Ajax boss opted against enjoying any form of summer holiday to instead prepare for next season having touched down in Manchester earlier on this month. Ten Hag has already seen United in action in the flesh after attending their final game of what was a miserable campaign.
With interim manager Ralf Rangnick in the dugout at Selhurst Park, United fell to a feeble 1-0 defeat by Crystal Palace as Ten Hag watched on from the executive seats. He would have seen plenty of room for improvement, but has already received some point advice from Liverpool legend-turned-Sky pundit Jamie Carragher.
Speaking on Sky Sports most recent edition of The Overlap series, Carragher used his own former side as a reference for point for the size of the task on Ten Hag's hands. "Listen we talk about off the field a lot at United," the ex-England international claimed.
"You've still got to remember though that the manager is the most important person for me, all the things you are all talking about off the pitch - that is exactly what was being said about Liverpool before Jurgen Klopp came in.
"Transfer committee, Brendan Rodgers was arguing about who was buying players - all this type of stuff going on and though a top manager can't fix everything - a top manager does a lot right."
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With that in mind, United's football director John Murtough has shed light on the appointment process that saw them eventually stick on Ten Hag after he impressed the club hierarchy with his "long-term vision to build a successful, exciting team."
Murtough claimed that the new United boss also "showed passion, energy and enthusiasm for the challenge," and was the "standout choice" to succeed Rangnick following the conclusion of his interim reign.
Ten Hag has also opened up on United's hiring process as he admitted he was not contacted by the club until late March. "That [the first meeting] was not so long ago," the 52-year-old told Dutch outlet Voetbal International in a recent interview. "Actually only after the talks with Man Utd, which only started in the last international break, at the end of March.
"Those conversations were so good that I got the feeling: I want to take on that challenge. Then it started to come to life in my head and I made the decision that I would leave Ajax."
