Why Thomas Tuchel rejected Man United summer offer as Erik ten Hag “scrutinised” by directors

Reports have emerged detailing why Thomas Tuchel rejected the Manchester United job in the summer as Erik ten Hag is being “scrutinised” by club directors.

When Erik ten Hag’s future at United was uncertain in the summer, Sir Jim Ratcliffe and his team were considering potential replacements, including Thomas Tuchel.

It was claimed that after a meeting with the British billionaire, Tuchel took himself out of the race as he wanted to take a break from management after his stint at Bayern Munich.

According to a new report from Bild, the German manager was unconvinced by the transfer approach at Old Trafford when discussions took place in the summer, with increased responsibility in the hands of the new-look footballing team.

Dan Ashworth, Jason Wilcox, and Christopher Vivell are all leading the recruitment side of the club’s operations after Sir Jim Ratcliffe took charge earlier this year.

The report explained that while Tuchel was very close to taking the job, the structure appears to have proven a dealbreaker.

German pundit Marcel Reif added: “I would have bet a lot that Tuchel would replace Ten Hag. I recently had another conversation with someone who is very close to that. It was pretty far along, almost in agreement.

“As far as the squad is concerned, the considerations were different. Tuchel said pretty much at the finish line: ‘I’m not doing that! I won’t do that to myself again, that I go to a club and then things come from outside.'”

This suggests that Tuchel would not be an option for the club if Ten Hag gets sacked at some point this season. There are limited replacements on the market, with Tuchel being one of the few top-level managers out of work.

This follows on from recent reports from the Guardian, which claim that there are serious concerns within the United footballing department about how Ten Hag is setting the team up.

United have won just one of their opening three Premier League games and looked uninspiring in several areas of the pitch.

The report added that the Dutchman’s game model is being “scrutinised” by the Old Trafford leadership, and while there has been displays of support shown by Omar Berrada and Dan Ashworth, improvements must be shown going forward.

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