After being linked with the Manchester United job since November and following intense speculation that he had finally signed a deal in recent weeks, Ajax manager Erik ten Hag will officially take over the reins at Old Trafford at the end of this season.
The Dutchman has become one of the more prominent managerial figures within European football after guiding Ajax to five trophies in the past four seasons and playing an attractive brand of football, and is now set to take sail of the sinking Red Devils ship.
Here is all you need to know about Erik ten Hag, including the trophies he’s won, his personal life and his position at current club Ajax.
Who is Erik ten Hag?
Erik ten Hag is a Dutch manager who is currently in charge of Eredivisie club Ajax, who currently sit four points clear at the top of the league with five games to go. The 52-year-old has been in charge of the Amsterdam club since 2017, but will move to become the new manager of Man Utd ahead of the 2022-23 season in the summer.
Ten Hag played professionally between 1989-2002, where he spent his whole career in the Netherlands and played as a centre back for FC Twente, De Graafschap, RKC Waalwijk and FC Utrecht, before retiring at the age of 32. He moved into management with Go Ahead Eagles in 2012, and followed that with spells at Bayern Munich II, Utrecht and current team Ajax.
Ten Hag is married to his wife, Bianca, but little is known about her as she prefers to live a low-key life away from the media's spotlight. It is believed the couple are only a few years apart in age, while they have a son, although Erik has been entirely private about his family life in public.
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Trophies won
Ten Hag has won six trophies as a manager but has also achieved plenty of other feats along the way. In his first managerial stint at Go Ahead Eagles in 2012, the Dutchman led the team to its first promotion in 17 years. He also won the 2013-14 Regionalliga Bayern with Bayern Munich II, before helping Utrecht book a place in the Europa League qualifiers in 2016-17.
Since taking over at Ajax in 2017, ten Hag has won five trophies. As well as winning the 2019 Dutch Super Cup, he won the Eredivisie title and the KNVB Cup in 2018-19, before repeating the feat again in 2020-21. He famously led Ajax to the UEFA Champions League semi-finals in 2018-19, while he became the fastest manager in league history to reach 100 wins with Ajax (128 matches) earlier this year.
Individually, he won the Eredivisie Manager of the Year Award with Utrecht in 2016 and again with Ajax in 2019, while he came in fourth place for the Best FIFA Men’s Coach in the same year. As a player, he won the second tier title with De Graafschap in 1990-91 and the KNVB Cup with Twente in 2000-01.
Ajax position
Two weeks after guiding Ajax to their record extending 20th KNVB Cup in April 2021, Ten Hag extended his contract in Amsterdam until the end of the current 2022–23 season, where he would become a free agent upon its expiry. Therefore, Ten Hag will remain as manager of Ajax until the end of this season, before taking up his position with Man Utd from June 2022.
Upon ten Hag’s announcement as Man Utd manager, football director John Murtough, said: “We wish Erik the best of luck as he focuses on achieving a successful end to the season at Ajax and look forward to welcoming him to Manchester United this summer.”
While ten Hag himself added: “It will be difficult to leave Ajax after these incredible years, and I can assure our fans of my complete commitment and focus on bringing this season to a successful conclusion before I move to Manchester United.”
