Manchester United's coach, Ten Hag, was comfortable in the job despite many speculations of his dismissal

Erik ten Hag has insisted he was never shocked when an internal review at Manchester United decided whether he would keep his job.

The Dutchman was expected to leave Old Trafford this summer after two seasons in charge but new owner Jim Ratcliffe, along with his Ineos team, have decided to extend his 12-month contract.

Ten Hag spent time discussing the holiday with family and said he was relieved to know it was out of his hands.

He told AD: “I just celebrated the holidays with the people I love, and I let things come to me. I have no influence on that.

“It's not like I'm scared. Why? It's a decision that was out of my hands. I just waited.

“At that time you only think in two situations: whether we continue, or not. It's that simple and I'm classy enough to look at it that way.”

Statement of purpose.

✍️ @Leny_Yoro#MUFC pic.twitter.com/7u8UTRm6ST

— Manchester United (@ManUtd) July 19, 2024

Ratcliffe explored other options

It is reported that Ratcliffe has spoken to other coaches, including former Bayern Munich and Chelsea manager Thomas Tuchel, and Ten Hag was also given the opportunity to present his case at a meeting in Ibiza.

The 54-year-old admitted it was a frank discussion with both sides getting a chance to air out what went wrong last season as United finished eighth in the Premier League, although they went top by beating Manchester City to win. the FA Cup.

“They didn't say 'we still want to continue', but: we want to continue,” he added.

“The argument they put in a nutshell: we looked at everything and put it next to each other, but we think we have the best manager at home.

“And I said: 'then we have to talk about a few things, about how we work together and how we work together.' We had a good, honest, but also controversial discussion about that. As it should be at the top.

“I also said to them at that time: if you think this is not the way, we will have to separate.”

Ten Hag gave to Yoro

Ineos have shown they are ready to back Ten Hag by agreeing to sign French defender Leny Yoro for an initial £52million.

But their pre-season campaign got off to a disappointing start on Monday when they lost 1-0 to Rosenborg in Trondheim and produced a performance Ten Hag described as “unusual in top football”.