Sir Jim Ratcliffe reveals the real reason why Erik ten Hag kept his job at Man Utd

Sir Jim Ratcliffe decided to keep Erik ten Hag as Manchester United manager because he believes the club’s problems lie elsewhere.

After weeks of speculation, with Ratcliffe and his INEOS colleagues speaking to prospective candidates for Ten Hag’s job, the Dutchman was finally given clarity over his future earlier this month. Ratcliffe had personally interviewed Thomas Tuchel days beforehand and the apparent indecision over a crucial part of United’s future was widely criticised.

Ten Hag has just one year left on his deal and, appearing on Dutch TV to cover Euro 2024 last week, he pulled no punches on the topic, stating: ” Manchester United and I still have to find an agreement for the new contract. This isn’t easily done, we are still going to have to talk about this.”

Ratcliffe has now given an interview to Bloomberg in which he glossed over the issue, suggesting that the Ten Hag situation had been blown out of proportion. Asked about the unsuccessful search for a new manager and the decision to keep Ten Hag, he said: “The coach isn’t the central issue at Manchester United.”

Taking a business-focused perspective, rather than a sporting one, he added: “It’s a sports club. It needs to be competitive, it needs a degree of intensity, but with a supportive side to it because you are dealing with players who are relatively young. It hasn’t had that type of environment historically.”

United finished eighth in the Premier League – their lowest ever position since the competition was launched in 1992/93 – and Ten Hag was widely expected to be sacked at the end of the campaign. But United’s 2-1 win over Manchester City in the FA Cup final complicated things and, despite openly courting other managers, Ratcliffe decided to stick rather than twist.

Speaking on NOS’ coverage of Euro 2024, Ten Hag said: “Manchester United have told me that they spoke with Tuchel, but they eventually came to the conclusion that they already have the best manager.”

Ratcliffe has taken an interesting approach since completing a 27.7 per cent takeover of United in February. He is convinced that he can inspire a turnaround across the board by changing the culture and implementing cuts.

The 71-year-old petrochemicals billionaire has made a splash by cutting back on staff benefits, ordering staff back to their offices and laying out plans to make job cuts. He has also overhauled the executive team at United, hiring Omar Berrada as chief executive and Jason Wilcox as technical director, while Dan Ashworth has taken Newcastle to arbitration to try and force through his move to become sporting director.