Erik ten Hag has been billed as a “feasible option” for Ajax as the former Manchester United boss remains linked with a return to management, according to reports in the Netherlands.
“In football, it is eat or get eaten,” Ten Hag once memorably said. Unfortunately for the increasingly beleaguered Dutch tactician, it has been more of the latter of late.
Bayer Leverkusen waited just three matches before ending their Ten Hag experiment in brutal fashion earlier this season, condemning him to the shortest managerial tenure in Bundesliga history. That ill-fated reign on the Rhine was Ten Hag’s first posting since Manchester United haphazardly gave him his marching orders a matter of months after offering up a new two-year contract.
After taking a few months to lick his wounds, the 55-year-old’s name has returned to conversations surrounding vacant managerial positions. Ten Hag emerged as a surprise candidate for Wolverhampton Wanderers after Vitor Pereira’s dismissal over the weekend, and is reportedly open to the prospect of returning to the Premier League.
Now it has been claimed by Dutch outlet that Ten Hag is being pursued by Ajax. The Amsterdam giants won three league titles, a pair of domestic cups and reached the Champions League semifinals playing a brand of dazzling football under his watch between 2018–22.
Ajax technical director Alex Kroes was spotted meeting Ten Hag at the start of the week but dismissed it as nothing more than a friendly coffee. report that a more formal follow-up is “inevitable” after the traditional Dutch giants slipped further into decline this week.
Whether Ten Hag is open to a return to Amsterdam is another matter entirely, particularly given the flaming bin fire he would be walking into.
