Manchester United co-owner Sir Jim Ratcliffe stated that the future of under-pressure manager Erik ten Hag is “not my call.”
Ratcliffe, a billionaire, assumed control of football operations at Old Trafford in February, and in July, the club activated a one-year extension to Ten Hag’s contract.
However, following a challenging start to the season, Ratcliffe emphasized that the United hierarchy he has established needs to “take stock and make some sensible decisions.”
Asked if he still had faith in former Ajax boss Ten Hag, Ratcliffe told BBC Sport: “I don’t want to answer that question.”
Ratcliffe made his remarks after witnessing Ineos Britannia become the first British sailing team to reach the Americas Cup final since 1964 on Friday, and just a day after 10-man United squandered a two-goal lead to draw 3-3 at Porto in the Europa League.
Ten Hag’s team has managed to win only three of their first 10 matches this season and is currently without a victory in four games across all competitions, ahead of their Premier League visit to Aston Villa on Sunday.
“I like Erik. I think he’s a very good coach but at the end of the day it’s not my call,” Ratcliffe said.
“It’s the management team that’s running Manchester United that have to decide how we best run the team in many different respects.
“But that team that’s running Manchester United has only been together since June or July. They weren’t there in January, February, March or April – [CEO] Omar [Berrada], [sporting director] Dan Ashworth – they only arrived in July.
“They’ve only been there… you can count it in weeks almost – they’ve not been there a long time, so they need to take stock and make some sensible decisions.
“Our objective is very clear – we want to take Manchester United back to where it should be, and it’s not there yet, obviously – that’s very clear.”
Ten Hag has secured two trophies in two years at Old Trafford, with a crucial 2-1 victory against Manchester City in the FA Cup final in May playing a key role in him retaining his position.
In his first season, he ended the club’s six-year trophy drought by winning the Carabao Cup against Newcastle, while also achieving a third-place finish in the Premier League.
However, his second season has been much more challenging, as United was eliminated in the Champions League group stage and finished eighth in the league, before concluding the season on a positive note against City at Wembley.
The original contract Ten Hag signed upon his appointment in 2022 was set to expire at the end of the current season, in 2025.
After reviewing the team’s performance during the 2023-24 season and discussing potential replacements for Ten Hag, the club, under Ratcliffe’s leadership, opted to trigger an extension to keep the manager at Old Trafford until 2026.
Yet, just 10 games into the current campaign, with United sitting 13th in the Premier League and winless in Europe, speculation about his future is growing—especially with a match against high-flying Villa coming up before the international break in October.