Erik ten Hag's appointment at Manchester United has been made official. The Premier League giants unveiled the Dutch tactician as their new permanent boss, ending the months of speculation, with the 52-year-old set to replace interim leader Ralf Rangnick at the end of the season.
The Ajax coach has long been linked with the Old Trafford job, but after impressing in an interview with the higher-ups, the Red Devils decided to go with the highly-rated tactician, offering him a three-year deal with the option of an additional year.
Now, the rebuilding at the Theatre of Dreams commences. According to reports out of Britain, Ten Hag is set to be handed a huge transfer war chest in order to strengthen the struggling Premier League giants while several players are expected to depart this summer.
The Mirror claims that a total of 12 players could leave the club at the end of the season, with six coming to the end of their contracts. They are Paul Pogba, Nemanja Matic, Jesse Lingard, Edinson Cavani, Juan Mata and Lee Grant, all of which are destined to depart as free agents, but for differing reasons.
Additionally, the club look to overhaul another six as Marcus Rashford, Anthony Martial, Aaron Wan-Bissaka, Eric Bailly, Phil Jones, and Alex Telles could all be put up for sale.
And as a result, the aforementioned UK news outlet report that Ten Hag will be handed a whopping £200M – roughly around $261M – to spend this summer. From the players being linked to Old Trafford, it appears the Dutchman is keen to strengthen the team's aging attack and midfield.
The newly-appointed manager has drawn up a four-man shortlist which consists of two strikers, Tottenham star Harry Kane and Benfica sensation Darwin Nunez, and two midfielders with Premier League experience in the form of West Ham's Declan Rice and Wolves' Ruben Neves.
It's unlikely Erik will splash the cash on all four as the aforementioned transfer war chest might not even be enough to land Kane and Rice. However, the need for midfield reinforcement will be slightly eased by the return of Donny van de Beek as the incoming tactician looks to hand his former player a second chance at Old Trafford.
