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It is very likely that Erik ten Hag is working on his last season at Ajax according to de Telegraaf. Bayern München has reduced the list of possible trainers for next season to two: Ten Hag (49) and PSG-trainer Thomas Tuchel (46). If the final choice of the German rekordmeister falls on the Dutchman, then he wants to make his dream come true: after Bayern München II also train Bayern 1.
Formally, Ajax can put a stop to this, because in the new contract (until mid 2022) that the trainer signed in June, no departure clauses or limited transfer fees are included in writing. The fact that Marc Overmars after Ajax-Feyenoord (4-0) that he would cooperate, indicates that there is a possibility for ten Hag to leave. “You have to be realistic when such big clubs come. How often does someone get such a chance? You always have to look at that. We always think along, maybe too much.”
The fact that Ten Hag has indicated internally that he likes to spread his wings when FC Bayern comes, is also logical. Chances are that after the double of last season, the coach will raise the Eredivisie Trophy again in April or May 2020. In addition, Ajax can still reach European Football after the winter and the club is always a serious contender in the KNVB cup tournament. The question is what can be won by ten Hag in Amsterdam after this season? The title is taken for granted given the sportive and financial gap with PSV and Feyenoord and winning the Champions League with Ajax is almost impossible.
The day before the Champions League meeting with Chelsea, Ten Hag indicated that he would at least finish the season in the Johan Cruijff ArenA and that he would not immediately succeed Niko Kovac, who had left. That was unnecessary because the Ajax board is of the opinion that an interim departure of Ten Hag is not negotiable.
He did respond to his love for Bayern Munich when asked to do so. “Bayern is a fantastic club, where I felt comfortable. I enjoyed working there and the club is still in my heart,” he said in the London press room. And now it turns out that Ten Hag is also in the heart of the Bavarian club management. At Bayern, they see a coach with his own signature in the Ajax trainer. That’s why Tuchel is on the wish list as well. Trainers who can entertain the audience with a clearly recognizable offensive system of dominant football.
Because a departure of Tuchel is not an option for Paris Saint-Germain at the moment, the Bayern-direction is looking for a temporary solution until the end of the season. Arsène Wenger was polled on the assumption that, given his age (70), he would be open to employment for eight months. But the French former coach of Arsenal wants a longer contract or not want the job at all. It became the latter.
Pole position
And so Ten Hag and Tuchel are in pole position. Only when the arrival of both on July 1 proves impossible, others come back in the picture. Tuchel extended his contract in France in May until the summer of 2021 and will normally be a much more expensive option for Bayern Munich than Ten Hag, partly because of the huge salary Tuchel receives at PSG. Something that is certainly not detrimental to Ten Hag’s chances of becoming the new head coach of Bayern Munich in 2020. But at the moment the focus of the Dutchman is on Ajax, who will be playing his old club FC Utrecht tomorrow and can take the next step towards the beautification of his CV with a second national title