Erik ten Hag may be making his return to the dugout sooner than he’d expected.
Just five weeks after being relieved of his duties by Manchester United chiefs, the Dutchman is believed to be on the ‘list’ (per Patrick Berger)of potential Marco Rose successors at RB Leipzig, as is Roget Schmidt, who most recently managed Benfica.
Leipzig have endured a tumultuous start to the campaign, which has them sitting 34th-placed out of the 36 teams in the new-look Champions League standings and, therefore, expected to be eliminated from the competition at the earliest stage.
They have lost all five first-stage matches thus far, scoring only four goals while conceding 10, and are yet to face Aston Villa, Sporting Lisbon and SK Sturm Graz. The side are, however, fourth-placed in the Bundesliga, albeit nine points adrift of Bayern Munich in first.
Ten Hag makes Leipzig’s managerial shortlist
Nonetheless, the Leipzig hierarchy believe Ten Hag would be a suitable candidate to steady the ship at the Red Bull Arena.
He was dismissed by INEOS’ key decision-makers at the end of October – the morning after a 2-1 defeat to West Ham in the Premier League. The 54-year-old left United 14th-placed in the table and winless in Europe, overseeing draws in the three Europa League games he took charge of this season.
Ten Hag did put an end to a six-year trophy drought in M16 when he led the Reds to Carabao Cup glory in 2022/2023. This was then followed up by an unexpected FA Cup triumph over Manchester City in May, although this only papered over the cracks, as United’s dismal form resumed when 2024/2025 got underway in August – a matter of months after last term’s eighth-placed league finish marked United’s worst on record since the Premier League was formed.
Still, he was a success in the Eredivisie, so you would perhaps anticipate that he’d fare well in Germany’s top flight.
