Erik ten Hag allowed a former Manchester United player to leave Old Trafford and the ex-Red Devils star wanted to remain at the Premier League club “forever.”
The 55-year-old Dutchman is no longer in charge at the Premier League club after Manchester United sacked Erik ten Hag during the 2024-25 campaign.
Former Ajax head coach Ten Hag was offloaded from Old Trafford last October after a disastrous start to the Premier League season with the Red Devils.
The former United manager, who is now at Bundesliga outfit Bayer Leverkusen, went into his third season at Old Trafford hot on the heels of a new deal.
Ineos and Sir Jim Ratcliffe had dropped a major summer spending spree in 2024 amid Ten Hag’s contract extension with United, but it did not translate to success.
Ruud van Nistelrooy was temporarily installed as United interim manager after Ten Hag’s dismissal before the Red Devils legend departed the club last November.
David de Gea makes a Man Utd admission after he left Old Trafford during Erik ten Hag’s reign at the Red Devils
David de Gea had won the Premier League Golden Glove in his final season at Old Trafford before the Manchester United legend made his exit from the Red Devils.
The 34-year-old former United No 1 wanted to stay at the Premier League club after the 2022-23 campaign and had been willing to take a pay cut to extend his stay.
However, talks between United and De Gea broke down in 2023 and a deal failed to materialise, with the Spaniard’s contract with the club expiring that same summer.
De Gea left United after 12 seasons and the Fiorentina shot-stopper spent the entirety of the 2023-24 season out of action as a free agent at the time.
Speaking to Cronache di Spogliatoio, the ex-Spain star admitted that he wanted to stay at the Red Devils and that United fans “still write” to him even now.
“The fans still write to me,” De Gea said.
“I spent so many years here, it’s my home: I would have stayed here forever.
“But football is like that: unexpected things happen. Like the opportunity to come here to Florence.”
David de Gea’s admission about Man Utd fans shows that Bayer Leverkusen manager Erik ten Hag made the wrong call
United had a major shuffle over their two main options between the sticks during Erik ten Hag’s reign, with De Gea’s departure still contentious among some fans.
De Gea had been error-prone towards the tail end of his prolific United playing spell, but the former Spain international was still an impressive and reliable shot-stopper.
The Fiorentina star left Old Trafford under Ten Hag, who also allowed Dean Henderson to leave United for Crystal Palace in the same 2023 summer window.
Ten Hag was then reunited with former Ajax star Andre Onana after he was signed from Inter Milan and Altay Bayindir was brought in from Fenerbahce in 2023.
Andre Onana has so far struggled to fill the boots of De Gea at United and Altay Bayindir has been prone to howlers like the current Red Devils No 1.
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