Manchester United stars are divided on the news that Ajax manager Erik ten Hag is emerging as the club’s preferred candidate for next manager.
Interim manager Ralf Rangnick has enjoyed a mixed return in his temporary role culminating with Saturday’s fortunate 1-1 draw at home to Leicester City and it is thought United will now move for Ten Hag.
The Manchester Evening News reports that sources close to other players say Ten Hag is viewed as an 'underwhelming' choice by some players behind the scenes.
The report notes that: “Disenchantment is still rife in the United squad, with the mood worsened by Saturday's fortuitous 1-1 draw with Leicester City.”
A popular choice among the players is also former Tottenham manager Mauricio Pochettino, whose PSG side are currently twelve points clear in the Ligue 1 title race.
However, his position there is unstable because of his side’s inability to progress further in the Champions League. Last month they were knocked out of the competition by Real Madrid despite holding a two goal aggregate lead.
United explored the possibility of releasing Pochettino from his PSG contract in November but a source familiar with discussions said the Qatari-owned club 'played hardball'.
Another supporter of ten Hag is Pep Guardiola, manager of United’s fierce cross-city rivals.
He praised ten Hag recently having worked with him at Bayern Munich and, when asked if ten Hag could take over at Manchester City.
He said: “Are you asking me if Erik ten Hag could be here? Definitely. A lot could be here and I think he could be one of the ones. For the way he approaches the game, definitely, definitely.”
Ten Hag is thought to be United's preferred candidate having now had an interview with the club with United only having to pay Ajax £1.7m to break ten Hag from the remaining year of his contract.
Ten Hag has won two Eredivise titles with Ajax as well as getting his side to the Champions League semi-finals in 2019 and the two clubs enjoy a good working relationship having worked on the transfers of Donny Van de Beek and Danny Blind in recent years.
