In his pre-match press conference ahead of a trip to Brentford on Saturday night, Ten Hag was pressed on the notion of Southgate arriving at Old Trafford following Euro 2024 this summer. And his initial response was a dismissive one, quipping “I don’t care.”
He then added: “We are working, we are cooperating, we are together in the boat. I was trained at Ajax and it was similar. When you are working at (a) top football (club), you get used to it. So we don’t care. Players don’t care.”
The pressure on the 54-year-old eased before the international break with the dramatic 4-3 FA Cup win over Liverpool. That has set-up a Wembley clash with Coventry City, and seemingly, a huge opportunity for the Red Devils to reach a second successive final.
And Ten Hag argued that rumours were par for the course when in charge at Old Trafford. “When you are working at Man United there will always be noise but we are focussing on the team playing better,” he said.
Southgate himself has been non-committal on his international future, saying he will wait until after the tournament in Germany before making a final decision on his future. But he has also insisted that no club job would faze him if he were to return to the domestic game.
Ratcliffe is also a known admire of Graham Potter, who he previously tried to hire at Nice. Brighton boss Roberto De Zerbi has also been linked and intriguingly, the INEOS chief has declined to publicly back Ten Hag.
But Ten Hag, who is contracted until the summer of 2025, has previously insisted that the two have been in regular communication. “Consistently we have talks, and we’re talking about the future together,” he said.
United lie sixth ahead of their trip to London, six points off Tottenham above them. Catching Ange Postecoglou’s side could prove critical, with UEFA set to hand the Premier League an extra fifth spot for it’s premier competition next season.