Erik ten Hag sends transfer message to Sheikh Jassim and Sir Jim Ratcliffe ahead of Man United takeover

Erik ten Hag has sent a clear message to the prospective Manchester United owners ahead of the potential takeover.

Both Sheikh Jassim and Sir Jim Ratcliffe have been battling it out to take over at Old Trafford. The Glazer family have not yet accepted a bid for the football club.

Ten Hag, who has impressed during his debut campaign in charge, has already had to deal with several challenges at United – and the takeover process is yet another of those.

Whilst there are question marks over the summer transfer budget, Ten Hag urges that the new owners of the club must bring an effective strategy in the market.

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United’s upcoming opponents Chelsea have spent around £600 million under their new owner Todd Boehly since his consortium took over at Stamford Bridge last year.

Yet, they sit in 12th position in the Premier League. The United boss is wary of the club spending money without direction in a similar manner.

“Oh, absolutely,” agreed Ten Hag when asked whether it’s difficult to get things right after a takeover. “At this moment, the Premier League is the centralisation of good players and of the best managers. Also [it’s about] the money. It’s all here in the UK.

“That makes a great competition but a tough and a hard competition and you have to do the right things. You can have money, but you have to spend it in a smart way and also you need the right strategy behind it, because otherwise money doesn’t work.”

Ten Hag has previously explained that he wants to work alongside personnel when recruiting players, and that he does not believe a manager should have autonomy in the transfer market.

His first summer at the club saw the manager purchase several players that he was familiar with as United were in the midst of restructuring their scouting department.

Since then, with an entire season at Old Trafford under his belt, Ten Hag believes that the club have made positive steps, but must assess and learn from the campaign.

“Well, I think we are in a good direction,” he added. “But also I think we also can learn from the season and we have to evaluate it after the season and make the right conclusions for the future. And that’s what we will definitely do after the season.”