Erik ten Hag: My focus is now on Manchester United'

By Darren Plant, Senior Reporter | 16 May 2022

Erik ten Hag confirms that he will make an early start to life at Manchester United rather than go on a post-season trip with current club Ajax.

Departing Ajax head coach Erik ten Hag confirms that he is ready to turn his attention to life at Manchester United from Monday.

While Ten Hag penned his long-term contract with the Premier League giants several weeks ago, his recent focus has been on delivering another Eredivisie title with Ajax.

Having been confirmed as champions earlier in the week, the Dutch outfit concluded their campaign with a 2-2 draw at Vitesse on Sunday afternoon.

Speaking after that fixture, Ten Hag confirmed reports that he will place full attention on United from this week, rather than go out on a post-season trip to Curacao with Ajax.

The 52-year-old is quoted by Sky Sports News as saying: "Yes, there will be a party tomorrow [Monday] with the entire staff, but that will be it then. No, I will not be joining them [to Curacao]. That is correct, I think that's understandable.

"There's a lot of work to be done there [at United]. Of course. There's a lot of work at every club. A manager's job is especially focused on the preparations for next season. And there's a lot of work to be done in that regard.

"Regarding the staff, there are several things that need to be organised. And also regarding the team and over the next several days, or actually as of tomorrow [Monday], we will be focusing on that intensively."

Ten Hag has also revealed that he wants to keep Cristiano Ronaldo in his squad for 2022-23.