Erik ten Hag reveals why Man Utd communication with INEOS 'broke down'

Erik ten Hag has admitted communication with the new Manchester United regime broke down in the wake of the club's FA Cup triumph at the end of last season.

The Dutchman's future was the subject of intense speculation after a season which saw the Red Devils finish eighth in the Premier League and exit the Champions League at the group stage, with injuries limiting Ten Hag's squad options throughout the campaign.

However, a rousing victory over local rivals Manchester City at Wembley helped the former Ajax boss keep his job, with United triggering a one-year extension in his contract after Sir Jim Ratcliffe and INEOS conducted a post-season evaluation of Ten Hag's performance and assessed other potential candidates for his role.

He told AD Sportwerald: "Yes, communication broke down [with INEOS]. But I was just celebrating holidays with my loved ones, and I let things happen. I have no influence on that.

"Of course that is a strange state of affairs. But it's not like I panicked. It's a decision that was out of my hands. I just waited it out. At that moment you just think in two scenarios: either we continue or not. It's that simple and I'm level-headed enough to look at it that way.

"They didn't say 'We still want to continue', but: 'We want to continue'. The argument they gave was in short: We have looked at everything and compared everything, but we think we already have the best manager in house. Then I said, 'Then we have to discuss a number of things about how we will interact with each other and work together'. We had a good, honest, but also confrontational conversation about this. As it should be at the top."

There has been plenty of off-field upheaval at Old Trafford in recent months as United attempt to drag themselves back to the top of English football. Transfer guru Dan Ashworth has arrived from Newcastle United, Omar Berrada was named the new chief executive after leaving Man City and Jason Wilcox became the technical director.

Those appointments have helped United move quickly in the transfer window, with Joshua Zirkzee and Yeny Loro arriving over the past week or so to bolster the first-team squad.

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