Ten Hag sack: Ratcliffe wants to fire Man Utd boss and replace him with Brighton manager
British billionaire Sir Jim Ratcliffe is looking to sack Erik ten Hag and replace him with Brighton boss Roberto de Zerbi, according to reports.
Ten Hag oversaw a positive first campaign at Old Trafford with the Dutchman leading the Red Devils to an FA Cup final appearance, League Cup silverware and a top-four finish in the Premier League.
However, Man Utd have had a terrible start to the new Premier League season with Ten Hag’s men losing five of their first ten matches, while they have struggled in their Champions League group and they crashed out of the League Cup to Newcastle United on Wednesday night.
Their loss to the Magpies in midweek was their second 3-0 loss on the bounce after being well beaten by arch-rivals Manchester City in the derby last weekend.
Before those two results a trio of back-to-back wins had eased some of the pressure on the Man Utd boss but now the heat is firmly back on Ten Hag.
INEOS founder Ratcliffe is closing in on a deal to buy 25 per cent of Man Utd – who have the fourth highest net spend in the Premier League in 2023 – from the Glazers with the billionaire looking to overhaul the football department.
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Previous reports had hinted that Ratcliffe intended to keep Ten Hag around if his investment is ratified with a report today insisting the deal is ‘expected to be announced within a fortnight’.
However, Football Insider claim that Ratcliffe has changed his mind on Ten Hag and now ‘plans to sack’ the Dutchman and ‘replace him’ with Brighton manager De Zerbi.
It is understood that ‘the decision has been provisionally made to dismiss Ten Hag, regardless of forthcoming results’ with Ratcliffe targeting De Zerbi ‘to take over as the new manager’.
The report adds that ‘while the current hierarchy are indeed willing to keep Ten Hag in place, Ratcliffe and INEOS have plans of their own – which also include a complete overhaul of the coaching set-up at Old Trafford.’
De Zerbi has been impressive since he took over at Brighton with the Italian taking the Seagulls – who were also good under Graham Potter – to another level since taking over in September 2022.
Former Man Utd defender Gary Neville insists that the club’s recent performances will now be “worrying” Ten Hag after defeat on Wednesday to a much-changed Newcastle side.
“At the moment it is worrying stuff for him, losing matches but the performances have been really awful,” Neville said on Sky Sports.
“Even the ones they have won in the last few weeks. Nowhere near good enough.
“You knew if half decent teams came to Old Trafford they would be back with losses again.
“You imagine after Sunday, Ten Hag would have had a message or meeting with the players to lift them for tonight.
“What do you say after this when you have seen it repeated, the same type of performance. Newcastle have made eight changes, what does he say to them, what is he thinking.”
