Should Manchester United Assistant Manager Ditch Red Devils To Rescue His Old Club Ajax?

Erik ten Hag's deputy at Manchester United – Mitchell van der Gaag – is reportedly a top candidate to become the new Ajax boss.

Ajack sacked head coach Maurice Steijn on Monday amid the Dutch club's terrible form that has seen them slip into the Eredivisie relegation zone. The announcement was made after Ajax suffered a 4-3 loss against fellow strugglers Volendam.

Ajax's manager hunt

Steijn, who joined Ajax from Sparta Rotterdam in June on a three-year deal, managed just a win from seven league games, leaving the Amsterdam club second bottom of the Eredivisie table. Even though the Dutch boss spent over £100million in transfers since his arrival at the club, Ajax recorded their worst run in their history under his watch, going winless in eight straight league games.

Former Manchester United manager Louis van Gaal recently returned to Ajax in an advisory role to help the club revive their catastrophic season. He identified Van der Gaag as the ideal man to take charge of the struggling side.

It is also understood that when Steijn appeared to be living on borrowed time at Ajax, the Dutch club made enquiries about whether Van der Gaag had a release clause in his current contract with the Red Devils. Van der Gaag was previously in charge of Ajax's youth team from 2019 to 2021. After an impressive run with the youth sides, he became Ten Hag's assistant for the latter's last season in charge of Ajax's first team. The two helped Ajax win the league title in the 2021-22 campaign.

Van der Gaag subsequently followed Ten Hag to Old Trafford and has become a key part of the Red Devils' system.

Good news for Man Utd

On the eve of Manchester United's UEFA Champions League clash with Copenhagen, the Red Devils have received great news that van der Gaag has informed Ajax about his decision to stay put in Manchester. Showing his loyalty towards Ten Hag, van der Gaag feels he and the boss have unfinished business at Old Trafford amid their poor start to the 2023-24 season.

Van der Gaag is fluent in five languages, including Portuguese and Spanish, which helps with communication in the dressing room.

Ajax's back up plan

Ajax were left hurt when van der Gaag left the club to join Ten Hag at Manchester United. The former Eredivisie champions have asked Steijn's assistant Hedwiges Maduro to step up as a caretaker boss of the club for the time being. Maduro, a former defensive midfielder and an academy product of Ajax, had joined the club as their assistant coach just earlier this year.

The Amsterdam-based club is also reportedly in talks with their former player and assistant coach John van 't Schip to become their boss for the remainder of the 2023-24 campaign.

Notably, Ten Hag's job at Manchester United is also believed to be under threat with the club sitting eighth in the Premier League table with four losses in nine matches. The Red Devils are also yet to win a game in the Champions League, having lost their opening two fixtures to Bayern Munich and Galatasaray.

Manchester United have a big game scheduled for later this month, after their Copenhagen game, as they are due to take on league winners Manchester City on Oct. 29 at Old Trafford. Pep Guardiola's City are six points ahead of the Red Devils in the league race. Despite this, City are not at the top of the table.

With 23 points, Tottenham Hotspur are currently the table-toppers in the Premier League and are two points ahead of second-placed City and third-placed Arsenal and three points ahead of Liverpool FC in fourth place.