Sir Jim Ratcliffe has assembled one hell of a brains trust at Manchester United.
And it seems, by closing in on Ruben Amorim, that they have started to get brainy. Started taking intelligent decisions. That they are making Manchester United sensible again.
United have fallen so far behind Liverpool and Manchester City in recent years that they have been little more than a speck in the rearview mirror of either of their North-West rivals.
Yet Liverpool and City have both been strongly linked with Sporting Lisbon boss Amorim, the hottest young property in European coaching, and it is United who are on the brink of landing him.
Amorim was favourite for the Liverpool job when Jurgen Klopp announced his decision to quit early this year and he has been favourite to succeed Pep Guardiola at City since his Sporting colleague Hugo Viana agreed to take over as director of football at the Etihad.
So this is a coup for the crew Ratcliffe has put together to run United’s footballing operation - having poached Dan Ashworth from Newcastle as sporting director, Omar Berrada from Manchester City as chief executive and Jason Wilcox from Southampton as technical director.
Manchester United issued the following statement after Erik ten Hag's dismissal.
Erik ten Hag has left his role as Manchester United men’s first-team manager.
Erik was appointed in April 2022 and led the club to two domestic trophies, winning the Carabao Cup in 2023 and the FA Cup in 2024.
We are grateful to Erik for everything he has done during his time with us and wish him well for the future.
Ruud van Nistelrooy will take charge of the team as interim head coach, supported by the current coaching team, whilst a permanent head coach is recruited.
Manchester United have decided to part ways with manager Erik ten Hag after a dismal start to the 2024/25 Premier League campaign.
United sacked Ten Hag on Monday following a 2-1 defeat to West Ham on the weekend.
The Premier League giants failed to find any consistency under the Dutchman, with speculation around his future starting at the backend of last season.
Man Utd have put Ruud van Nistelrooy in charge on an interim basis as the club begin their search for their seventh manager since Sir Alex Ferguson left the club.