Erik ten Hag’s second campaign at Manchester United hasn’t gone as smoothly as he’d have envisioned, and now a key ultimatum is expected.
Manchester United kick-started 2024 in better form than they ended 2023, now with a couple of handy displays in a row – most recently a 4-3 win over Wolves – it seems Erik ten Hag has steadied the ship.
That being said, however, in the January transfer window despite the clear need to strengthen, he wasn’t helped out with incomings. This is something that Simon Mullock of The Mirror has revealed to be something which has infuriated the Dutchman.
He wrote: “Erik ten Hag’s future could hinge on how much money he is given to spend by Manchester United this summer.”
Ten Hag therefore will undoubtedly make his wishes known in advance, demanding substantial backing otherwise he could have made up his mind.
This is a bizarre ultimatum for a host of reasons, and likely won’t go down well with the new footballing structure under Ineos.
Ten Hag has been backed substantially
No matter what happened in January, Ten Hag has been backed throughout his two seasons in charge of the club.
The main issue has been how poorly the money has been spent, for example, £55m on Mason Mount right now looks like potentially an all-time worst deal.
The club have been dealing with trying to avoid a PSR breach at the same time which means they can’t just get a striker in January spontaneously.
This backing with the Glazers in charge though is likely to be blown away by Ineos’ plans, as financial concerns lessen. Therefore it’s likely the summer will bring heavy investment which will please the manager.
Ineos will be in charge and so Ten Hag will be dealing with them
With Ineos in charge, Ten Hag will no longer have to deal with the Glazers and Richard Arnold but rather the likes of Omar Berrada and Sir Dave Brailsford who are people who understand football.
The hope is this means they’ll oversee United operating like a proper world-class footballing outfit off the field.
Primarily this should mean recruitment with this likely to take a huge amount of Ten Hag’s frustrations away.
So, with this all in mind, Ten Hag’s ultimatum probably means very little as Ineos will ensure he gets what he needs – if he impresses them.
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