Ten Hag’s return to management brutally torpedoed by former nemesis – report

Former Manchester United manager Erik ten Hag has reportedly been denied an entry back into football management by his old nemesis Jurgen Klopp.

The Dutchman was manager at Old Trafford from 2022 until October 2024 when he was sacked after the club’s shoddy start to the season.

He did win the Carabao Cup and FA Cup during his time at United but is also seen as responsible for filling the squad with numerous expensive players who are deemed not good enough to take the club forward.

Since being sacked, he has been linked with different clubs including Borussia Dortmund and Feyenoord.

Ten Hag also stated in a recent interview that he has no plans to return to football management until the summer and maybe his future might lie away from management entirely.

Nonetheless, it was reported earlier in the week that Red Bull Leipzig hold an interest in appointing Ten Hag in the summer.

There seems to a large obstacle to this however, as Sky Germany (via Football Transfers) report that “Jurgen Klopp has rejected Erik ten Hag as a coaching option for RB Leipzig.”

The former Liverpool coach has been the club’s head of global soccer since the start of the year and has already had a big say on their future path.

Klopp is already said to “wield incredible influence” at the club and according to journalist Florian Plettenberg, the German does not see Ten Hag as a good fit at Leipzig.

Commenting on the situation the journalist asserted, “he supports the plan to persist with Marco Rose until the summer. He has a clear profile in mind for Leipzig. Sebastian Hoeness is the preferred option for Klopp and everyone involved, but whether he would be interested we don’t know yet.”

“Klopp has also decided that the profile of Ten Hag does not suit Leipzig.”

Ten Hag faced Klopp five times during his spell in England, winning two, drawing two and losing the other.

Featured image Octavio Passos via Getty Images

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