Erik ten Hag lined up for sensational Ajax return - report
- Ajax shortlist Erik ten Hag in search for new manager
- Dutchman under scrutiny at Man Utd after poor season
- Graham Potter also considered for vacancy in Amsterdam
By Sean Walsh
Manchester United manager Erik ten Hag could return to Ajax ahead of the 2024/25 season after making their final three-man shortlist of potential new head coaches, a report in the Netherlands claims.
Ten Hag is under increasing pressure and scrutiny at Old Trafford following a subpar 2023/24 campaign. United currently sit sixth in the Premier League table and faced early exits from the Champions League and Carabao Cup, while they were fortunate to advance to the FA Cup final after scraping past Championship side Coventry City at the weekend.
Various reports have claimed Ten Hag's position at United is in jeopardy following the arrival of Sir Jim Ratcliffe as minority shareholder and Jason Wilcox as technical director, with Thomas Tuchel and Zinedine Zidane among those linked with taking over.
Dutch outlet De Telegraaf now claim Ten Hag could be offered a route back to his homeland this summer with former club Ajax.
The Amsterdam outfit have endured a nightmare season and have failed to replicate the success that Ten Hag brought to the club following his departure to United in the summer of 2022. Current head coach John van 't Schip will leave this summer and his side are unlikely to finish higher than fifth in the Eredivisie, which would be the club's worst final league position since 2000.
Ten Hag won three successive Eredivisie titles and two Dutch Cups during a five-year spell in charge of Ajax, while he notably led them to the Champions League semi-finals in 2019, only missing out on a place in the final due to a last-gasp Lucas Moura goal in an away-goals defeat to Tottenham Hotspur.
The two other candidates that Ajax are understood to be pursuing are former Chelsea boss Graham Potter and Nice manager Francesco Farioli.
Potter has been linked with the vacancy at the Johan Cruyff Arena for several months now and has been out of work since leaving Stamford Bridge in April 2023. Farioli, meanwhile, is looking to guide Nice into the Champions League in his first season as a manager in one of Europe's top five leagues.
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