Former Manchester United manager Erik ten Hag could be headed back to Ajax next season, the club’s technical director Alex Kroes said.
Ten Hag has been without a job since his firing in October, and Kroes told Dutch television NOS that Ten Hag is a candidate to replace Francesco Farioli, who quit Ajax on Monday.
“Erik ten Hag has been on the list for a long time,” he said. “He is well-known, he did a fantastic job when he was here.
“I spoke to him briefly on Sunday. He was in the Arena as a spectator,” he added.
Ten Hag attended Ajax’s last game of the Dutch league season against FC Twente on Sunday. They won 2-0 but still fell short of taking the title from PSV Eindhoven.
The 55-year-old Ten Hag coached at Ajax from 2018 to 2022, winning three league titles and taking the club to a Champions League semifinal in 2019 when they came all the way through the preliminary stages.
Farioli resigned on Monday but had already decided to leave after a dramatic draw in their penultimate game against Groningen last Wednesday when Ajax let slip a 2-1 lead nine minutes into stoppage time to effectively cede top place in the table to PSV.
“Francesco texted me from the bus that evening: ‘let’s sit down together tomorrow,'” Kroes said. “Then he said that he had serious doubts about whether he should continue.”
Farioli said the Ajax board and he differed on how to proceed next year after Ajax squandered a nine-point lead with five matches left in the campaign.
“My decision has nothing to do with the title fight,” the 36-year-old Italian insisted. “But I feel that this is the best choice, especially for the club.”
“I only stopped crying a few minutes ago,” he told Dutch television on Monday.
“I informed the players this morning. It was a very emotional day. I did not expect to cry for seven to eight hours in a row. With everyone, with all the players, with the technical staff, the medical staff, the chefs in the kitchen.”
“The path that Ajax is taking now would also fit my career perfectly, with Champions League football next season and great expectations regarding the championship,” he added.
“I wanted to tackle those goals, but I also have to be honest with myself. I believe that some steps need to be taken very quickly. We differ in opinion on that and I didn’t feel that those differences could be bridged.”
