Man Utd ‘changing Ten Hag stance’ dependent on one factor as Romano reveals ‘internal position’

Fabrizio Romano confirms Erik ten Hag currently has the backing of Manchester United’s board, but their ‘stance’ could ‘change’ in the coming weeks.

Ten Hag was under pressure for most of last season as Man Utd struggled en route to finishing eighth in the Premier League.

However, the Red Devils ended the campaign on a high as they beat arch-rivals Manchester City at Wembley to win the FA Cup.

Sir Jim Ratcliffe’s takeover of Man Utd was completed at the start of this year and he reported spoke to several managers as he considered potential replacements for Ten Hag.

Thomas Tuchel, Mauricio Pochettino, Gareth Southgate and Kieran McKenna were among the managers linked with Man Utd at the start of this summer, but Ratcliffe and his new-look recruitment team eventually opted to stick with Ten Hag, who has penned a contract extension until 2026.

There was plenty of buzz surrounding Man Utd heading into this season as they had a positive transfer window, but they have endured a miserable start to the campaign.

Man Utd edged past Fulham on the opening day but have since been beaten by Brighton and Liverpool.

Following United’s embarrassing performance in their 3-0 loss to Liverpool, it’s been reported that Ten Hag is just ‘weeks away’ from being sacked as Ratcliffe has identified three ‘possible successors’.

READ: Five reasons for Manchester United fans to be cheerful features the Ten Hag sack

Southgate and Ruud van Nistelrooy are among the favourites to replace Ten Hag . Despite this, Romano has revealed Man Utd’s “internal position”, claiming they will ‘wait on new signings before changing their stance’.

“It’s been a complicated start to the season for Manchester United – they of course managed a late 1-0 win over Fulham in their opening game but have then suffered back-to-back defeats against Brighton and Liverpool. It’s been a very poor couple of games, and an important defeat by three goals at home to their biggest rivals,” Romano said in his Daily Briefing column .

“This has already sparked some talk about the future of Erik ten Hag as manager, but the club have immediately been very, very clear on this. Both Omar Berrada and Dan Ashworth have backed Ten Hag, and whether this is the right decision or not is for you to decide, not me, but overall I think it’s positive from the club, and different from the past.”

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“Both Berrada and Ashworth have been very public in backing Ten Hag, and also discussing how he was very involved in the planning of the squad in the transfer market. They still believe that Ten Hag is the man to start this new project under the ownership of INEOS.

“It’s a strong statement by United, and their position internally remains that, before judging anything in terms of results and performances, it will be important to see the impact of all the new signings.

“It’s still very early days for young striker Joshua Zirkzee, who is playing in a completely new team and new league with different expectations and pressures, while we haven’t even seen Leny Yoro or Manuel Ugarte playing in competitive games yet.

“Yoro in particular was an important signing for United this summer, a fantastic talent, but he immediately suffered a big injury.

“Ugarte was also the top target in midfield, but Ten Hag has said publicly that it could take some weeks for him to be fully ready to make an impact in the team.

“So let’s see how United are doing once the new signings have been able to make an impact before saying anything too strong about the position of Ten Hag.”