'Honest, Confrontational Conversation': Erik ten Hag Reveals Why he Was Ready to Quit as Manchester United Manager

Despite enduring a poor Premier League season, Manchester United decided to retain Erik ten Hag as the manager.

The Premier League giants reportedly did explore other options but finally decided to stick with Ten Hag.

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The Dutch recently revealed that Manchester United’s decision to keep him at the club was followed by serious discussions with INEOS in Ibiza.

He also claimed to have not been perturbed by the prospect of losing his job but was ready to walk away if certain agreements on how to work together going forward were not found.

“It’s not like I panicked. Why? It’s a decision that wasn’t in my hands. I just waited for it. At that moment you just think in two scenarios: whether we continue, or not. It’s that simple and I’m level-headed enough to look at it that way,” Ten Hag told Algemeen Dagbladl.

“They didn’t say ‘we still want to go on’, but: ‘we want to go on.’ The argument they gave was in a short summary: we looked at everything and put it next to each other, 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 interact with each other and work together.’ We had a good, honest, but also confrontational conversation about that. As it should be at the top. I also said to them then: ‘if you think this is not the way, then we just have to break up,” he added.

Ten Hag signed an extension to his contract with Manchester United until June 2026.

Under Ten Hag last season, Manchester United endured their lowest finish in the Premier League era.

The Red Devils still managed to end their last season on a high note having won the FA Cup as they beat city rivals Manchester City in the final.

In the summer transfer window, Manchester United have signed France under-21 international Leny Yoro from Lille. The 18-year-old arrived at Old Trafford having reportedly signed a contract worth £52.1 million.

Before him, they also signed a deal with 23-year-old forward Joshua Zirkzee from Serie A side Bologna.

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