ERIK TEN HAG is ready to play hardball over new contract negotiations after his public humiliation.
Manchester United have decided to stick with the Dutchman as manager having failed to find another suitable candidate.
Erik ten Hag wants three demands to be met before signing a new Man Utd deal
Ten Hag will not let Sir Jim Ratcliffe have total control over transfers
Thomas Tuchel and Mauricio Pochettino pulled out of the running, while Gareth Southgate being with England at the Euros sidelined talks with him.
It left the club announcing Ten Hag “deserves a chance to show what more he is capable of”.
But the boss is not merely grateful to get more time and will lay down the rules for how things will go forward.
He will not cede control of transfers, which the new set-up wаnted to take out of his hands.
The 54-year-old is not prepared to be dictated to by Jason Wilcox as to how the team should play — after the new technical director was credited with suggesting he start Bruno Fernandes as a false nine in the FA Cup final win.
And Ten Hag will not allow Jadon Sancho back into the first team squad unless the player apologises for labelling him a liar last term.
The manager also wants Benni McCarthy, who coaches the first team, to get a new contract because his present one is about to expire.
With just one year remaining on his current contract, Ten Hag wants these guarantees before signing a new three-year contract.
He is still upset and irate about how he was treated and the lack of public support that has followed Ratcliffe’s arrival.
Ten Hag was set to be fired, but after upsetting Manchester City in the FA Cup final, United supporters rallied around him to keep him on, even though his eighth-place Premier League result was a record for the team.
Ten Hag remаins adamant Jadon Sancho will not return unless he apologises
The Dutchman also wants a new contract for coach Benni McCarthy
Ten Hag stated that he wants to take the “next step” on their preseason trip after finding out he will remain at Old Trafford.
On July 15, the Red Devils travel to Rosenborg in Norway; five days later, they play the Rangers at Murrayfield.
After that, they travel to the US to play Liverpool, Real Betis, and Arsenal.
Ten Hag said: “Pre-season is for preparing and we have to make that our next step.
“It is one of the only times you have the team together and can work on structures and on standards.
“We’ll be as strong as possible but, of course, the players who go far in the Copa America and the Euros will not be involved.”