(Football news) According to Fabrizio Romano, Manchester United are working towards signing Ajax assistant coach Mitchell van der Gaag to come alongside incoming new manager Erik ten Hag. Erik ten Hag was appointed as the new permanent boss at United and is set to join the club in the summer. He is currently in charge of Ajax, where he is trying to lead them to a hat-trick of Eredivisie titles.
The 52-year-old has a pressing style in his Ajax team and he intends to impose the same philosophy on his new set of players at United. This will require them to be at peak fitness in order to keep up with all the running and maintain their energy levels throughout the game. The task at hand is not an easy job as he intends to restore the glory days at Old Trafford where so many have already failed. Ten Hag has had a handful of famous names alongside him at Ajax, including 1995 Champions League winners Michael Reiziger and Winston Bogarde and former Ajax star Richard Witschge.
There are rumours flying around linking former England manager Steve McClaren being part of his new staff at United. McClaren is mostly known for his tenure as being the assistant manager to Alex Ferguson during the 1998/99 treble season and subsequently enjoyed success in Dutch football as well. It is also believed that United do not intend to table an offer for the former star striker Robin van Persie to join the backroom team. The 2012/13 Premier League title winner is currently on the coaching staff of Feyenoord and is set to continue his learning at his boyhood club.
Van der Gaag is two years younger than Ten Hag, and moved into coaching when he retired from playing in 2007. A centre-back who came through the youth academy of PSV Eindhoven, went on to play for a handful of clubs during his career, including the likes of Motherwell, Maritimo and finished off his career in Saudi Arabia. Van der Gaag returned to Maritimo as the B team coach and then he went on to manage the first-team of Belenenses, until a heart scare that saw him become unwell and collapse on the touchline during a game as he took a break from football.
He returned to coaching after two years with a short-lived spell at Cypriot club Ermis in 2015, before heading to lower league Dutch football with FC Eindhoven and then working his way up upto the first division with Excelsior Rotterdam and NAC Breda. Van der Gaag had never previously worked with Ten Hag before moving to Ajax in 2019 as Jong Ajax (Ajax youth team) head coach. The pair had previously spent time at Utrecht and De Graafschap as players. Yet it has only been a short time and they have formed a tight working relationship. It was in the summer of 2021 when Van der Gaag was promoted to Ajax first-team assistant coach to work alongside Ten Hag.
Also read: EA Sports to stop making FIFA branded football video games
