Manchester United assistant manager Mitchel van der Gaag would be ‘open’ to a return to Ajax, despite the fact he’s still ‘having a great time’ at Old Trafford under Erik ten Hag.
That’s according to Soccer News, who cover the coach today and a potential return to his former club as a replacement for Maurice Steijn.
Van der Gaag has been linked with a return to his former club, where he was assistant manager between July 2021 and June 2022, as the pressure continues to increase on current boss Maurice Steijn.
He was appointed in the summer as the club’s new long-term manager but has endured a disastrous start to the season which has Ajax sat 16th in the table, the relegation play-off place in the division.
The pressure on him has been growing as a result, particularly after the club made the decision to bring in Louis van Gaal as a consultant.
Soccer News cover that and say while he is happy at Old Trafford, he is ‘open’ to the idea of standing on his own two feet again as a coach.
Ajax are a club that could ‘convince him’ and the Dutch side see it as a move that would be reminiscent of Ten Hag’s arrival in 2017.
He also had little experience of working at the top level at that time, but Marc Overmars and Edwin van der Sar believed he could take the club back up the ladder with the right group of players.
Those currently in charge, Van Gaal and Alex Kroes, ‘have the same feeling’ about Van der Gaag and the former has already spoken to the coach.
They like that the Manchester United coach speaks several language, including English, Portuguese and Spanish, the praise he’s received for dealing with big backroom teams, his ‘direct and honest’ relationship with players and his devotion to tactics.
Indeed, the club wanted him as assistant to Roger Schmidt in 2020, believing that Van der Gaag ‘has everything it takes’ to become a top coach.
The feeling is that while there is no guarantee of success, hiring Van der Gaag ‘seems to be the step in the right direction’ of getting back to the success they enjoyed under Ten Hag.
