Manchester United will unveil Erik ten Hag as their new manager in the next 48 hours.
The former Ajax boss has spent three days in London mapping out his strategy with United chief executive Richard Arnold and other senior staff at the club's Mayfair offices. And after watching United's final match of the season at Crystal Palace on Sunday, ten Hag will travel up to Manchester for an official welcome ceremony at Old Trafford either on Monday or Tuesday.
It's believed Steve McClaren, ex- England manager and Sir Alex Ferguson's assistant during United's historic 1999 treble-winning year, will also be presented as ten Hag's right-hand man.
The pair worked together in Holland after McClaren appointed him as a coach in 2012 when the former Middlesbrough, Derby and Newcastle boss managed Dutch side Twente. Ten Hag, 52, is believed to be anxious to conclude his planning talks over the direction of the club so he can concentrate on analysing current United players he believes can fit into his system.
It's understood he wants to model United's playing style on Ajax where he won three Dutch titles and reached the semi-finals of the Champions League in 2019. The Dutch boss has handed United a wish-list of players who he believes will freshen the squad. A key priority is to bring more energy to a group who couldn't handle the high tempo pressing style interim coach Ralf Rangnick wanted to employ.
Ten Hag knows he has a budget to stick to with a churn of at least five or six new faces expected to arrive this summer. And with the numbers required, that is certain to rule out his former Ajax stars like Juventus defender Matthijs de Ligt and Barcelona midfielder Frenkie de Jong as both would cost around £100million each.
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Juventus want de Ligt to extend his deal in Turin but the defender is unhappy at the £102 million transfer fee clause in his current contract, believing it too high. The 22-year-old Dutch international will re-sign with the Italian giants - but only if they reduce the clause to around £70 million. That would end ten Hag's immediate interest in the centre back but make him a more attainable target in the future.
Meanwhile, Ralf Rangnick has accepted responsibility for United's failure this year insisting: “Blame me.” The German coach takes charge of United for the final time against Crystal Palace at Selhurst Park on Sunday aiming to avoid the Europa Conference League with Ten Hag watching on. And Rangnick walks away admitting he should have done better after replacing Ole Gunnar Solskjaer.
He said: "I'm more than self-critical. I should have done better. I expected that me and my coaching staff could have developed this team in a more sustainable kind of way. We couldn’t and it’s not only the players who should be blamed, it should be ourselves. We all could and should have done better but there are obvious reasons why it didn't happen.”
