‘I don’t care’ – Erik ten Hag

A defiant Erik ten Hag insists he is refusing to get distracted by outside ‘noise’ and ‘doesn’t care’ that he is yet to receive a public vote of confidence from new Manchester United co-owner Sir Jim Ratcliffe.

Last week, Ratcliffe – CEO of the INEOS chemicals group – officially completed his 27.7 per cent takeover in a £1.3billion deal at Old Trafford.

The 71-year-old has made no secret of his sky-high ambitions to return United to their former glory, outlining his plans to knock Liverpool and Manchester City off their perch, while also revealing his preference to rebuild the Theatre of Dreams.

But Ratcliffe, crucially, is yet to publicly endorse Ten Hag and recent reports emanating from France claim the British billionaire is prepared to axe the Dutchman if results fail to improve, with Zinedine Zidane eyed as a ‘dream’ managerial target.

Zidane, who has been out of a job since stepping down from his second spell in charge of Real Madrid in 2021, put United on red alert by signalling his intention to return to management this week.

Asked whether he has immediate plans to return to coaching, Zidane replied: ‘Why not? Anything can happen.

‘But at the moment I’m doing something else. I am sure that I will return to the bench, I would like to coach again.’

United’s dismal defeat at home to Fulham last weekend placed further pressure on an already under-fire Ten Hag, with the club languishing down in sixth in the Premier League – 16 points adrift of leaders Liverpool.

However, talking to the media ahead of United’s FA Cup fifth round tie with Nottingham Forest, Ten Hag insisted he had only received positive feedback from Sir Jim Ratcliffe and Sir Dave Brailsford since the INEOS takeover.

‘So I’m here. I’m under contract for three seasons, so I don’t care,’ he told reporters.

‘I’m only focusing on the process, so I don’t care what’s going on around me. I have many talks with Sir Jim Ratcliffe, also with Sir Dave Brailsford and others in that group, so I know where we are and I feel that they believe in me.’

Gary Neville this week suggested United’s hierarchy may already have made a decision over Ten Hag’s future, but the ex-Ajax boss is not focussing on his ‘personal circumstances’.

Ten Hag added: ‘I know what I’m doing. Consistently we have talks, and we’re talking about the future together.

‘If you talk about one defeat and the manager’s position is in discussion, I think it’s quite opportune after two months without a defeat. I can’t take it seriously.

‘It would be a problem when the leadership in this group has this approach or, internally, the others would have this approach, but that’s not the case. We are together there.

‘It’s not about me. I’m not focusing on my personal circumstances, I’m just focusing on the team. It’s all about focusing on that and don’t get distracted by any noise or whatever.’