Two weeks ago, reports confirmed that the club was finalizing a deal to appoint the Ajax manager, and on Thursday, United secured its top target on a three-year contract with an option for a fourth. 

“It is a great honor to be appointed manager of Manchester United and I am hugely excited by the challenge ahead,” ten Hag said in a statement. “I know the history of this great club and the passion of the fans, and I am absolutely determined to develop a team capable of delivering the success they deserve.

“It will be difficult to leave Ajax after these incredible years, and I can assure our fans of my complete commitment and focus on bringing this season to a successful conclusion before I move to Manchester United.”

The Dutch manager has won two Eredivisie titles with Ajax in 2018–19 and 2020–21 and currently has the team atop the table with a four-point lead and five matches remaining. He will stay on as manager of Ajax until the end of the season. 

He previously served as manager at Go Ahead Eagles, Bayern Munich II and Utrecht before his arrival at Ajax in 2017. He successfully led Ajax to the Champions League semifinals in 2018–19 with wins over defending champion Real Madrid and Juventus and was a Tottenham second-half comeback away from reaching the final. “Four and a half years is a good amount of time, but we would have liked to have kept Erik at Ajax for longer,” said Edwin van der Sar, Ajax CEO and former Manchester United goalkeeper. “He is going to make the step to one of the biggest clubs in the world, in a fantastic league.

“We owe Erik a lot of thanks for what he has achieved with Ajax so far, but we are not done yet. At the end of the season, I will look back more extensively on his departure. For now, what matters is the final games of the season in which we all want to bring home the league title.”

ten Hag will take over for interim manager Ralf Rangnick, who replaced Ole Gunnar Solskjær in November. In sixth place with 54 points, United finds itself in a heated battle for a top-four spot and a Champions League berth. The club currently sits three points back of fourth (Tottenham) and fifth (Arsenal) with a game in hand.