Erik ten Hag will face a pay cut at Manchester United next season | OneFootball

Erik ten Hag will face a 25% pay cut at Manchester United next season if he remains as manager should the club fail to qualify for Champions League football.

The Dutch manager, along with the vast majority of his senior squad, operate on an incentivised contract predicated upon the team’s performance. If, as expected, United do not finish 4th in the Premier League, these players will be subject to the same wage slash next year as their manager.

ESPN report Ten Hag’s current salary with United is in the region of £9 million-a-year, meaning this would drop to £6.75 million for the 2024/25 season should he remain at the helm at Old Trafford. It is far from certain the Dutchman will survive beyond this summer, however.

INEOS – who gained full control over the football operation at United following Sir Jim Ratcliffe’s ratification as co-owner in February – are yet to make a decision on Ten Hag’s future, whose contract expires in the summer of 2025.

They have, instead, decided to focus on installing a ‘best-in-class’ executive structure at Old Trafford, beginning with Omar Berrada as the club’s new chief executive. He has been joined by Southampton’s director of football, Jason Wilcox, as a new technical director, while Dan Ashworth is expected to be the new sporting director, if a compensatory agreement can be reached with Newcastle.

Ratcliffe is believed to be waiting until this team is assembled before deferring the managerial decision onto them. With a move for Ashworth still yet to be agreed, and Berrada remaining on gardening leave, the responsibility of establishing United’s summer plan will be largely driven by Wilcox.

The technical director is reported to have been instructed by Ratcliffe to “conduct a thorough audit” of Ten Hag’s job at Old Trafford thus far. The results of this examination are likely to dictate the decision over the Dutchman at the end of the season.

Wilcox will also play a key role in establishing the type of philosophy United employ on the pitch. This will then help dictate the club’s plans in the transfer market, as players will have to fit into an overarching system, rather than simply being signed at the manager’s behest.

A report relayed by The Peoples Person revealed Wilcox has already met with Ten Hag following the FA Cup semi-final victory over Coventry City, with further meetings planned for the remainder of the season.

Ten Hag has enjoyed a huge amount of control in his first two years in Manchester. He has been a shot caller on most decisions relating to the football side of the club, from the transfer market right down to the preparations for pre-season tours.

INEOS, however, appear keen to move away from this model, instead preferring a more modern ‘head coach’ style manager who solely focuses on the senior squad, while the executive branch leads the sporting operation. This shift is likely to cause some issues for Ten Hag as it was not necessarily the role he agreed to when signing for United in 2022.

At this stage, the report by ESPN suggests United are “preparing for next season with Ten Hag as manager.” This will be standard operating procedure, however, and not particularly indicative of the club’s commitment to the Dutchman beyond this year.

There have been murmurings Ten Hag may choose to jump before he is pushed, owing to unhappiness with a lack of support from the club’s new owners, as well as this change in the scope of his control.

Perhaps the added blow of losing out on over £2 million in wages may prove the straw which broke the Dutchman’s back come the end of the season.

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