It’s an interesting time at Man United right now, as Erik ten Hag looks to steady the ship at Old Trafford against the backdrop of the new owners, INEOS, arriving at the club.
Sir Jim Ratcliffe is expected to be officially ratified as the new part owner with sole control of football operations in the next few weeks, and that will allow him and his team to get to work properly and start to streamline operations more effectively.
What that means for ten Hag, the first-team and the staff of the club no one really appears to know at this stage, though there have been rumours that the Dutchman has already lost control of incoming and outgoing transfer dealings.
Such a move would almost certainly mark the beginning of the end of his tenure at the club, but Fabrizio Romano, speaking in his Daily Briefing for CaughtOffside, doesn’t think there’s anything to worry about at this stage.
“I’m not aware of the rumours that Erik ten Hag is no longer in control of transfers at Manchester United, it’s just the club preparing for big changes; new CEO, new director of football…,” he said.
“Ten Hag will have new people around him deciding together with him, this is the point, but it’s part of many changes happening at Manchester United as is normal when there are new owners.”
Of course, that’s not to say that come the summer and after a review of the season the club don’t decide to part with their manager, but for now everything appears to be calm.
By allowing ten Hag to get on with his work it gives everyone the best chance of success, and that’s surely the goal at this point.