Erik ten Hag opens up on 'confrontational' Ibiza talks with INEOS that resulted in him staying on as Man Utd boss

Man Utd looked set to part ways with Ten Hag after the club endured their worst-ever Premier League finish last season. However, the Dutchman went on to guide the Red Devils to FA Cup glory by beating Manchester City at Wembley which helped save his job. United did speak to a number of other candidates, including Thomas Tuchel, but ultimately decided that Ten Hag was the best man for the job.

Ten Hag has revealed that United's decision to stick with him followed intense discussions in Ibiza where a number of issues were raised. The Dutchman also claimed he was not too worried about losing his job but was willing to walk away if agreements on how to work together going forwards could not be found.

Ten Hag told Algemeen Dagblad: "It's not like I panicked. Why? It's a decision that wasn't in my hands. I just waited for it. At that moment you just think in two scenarios: whether we continue, or not. It's that simple and I'm level-headed enough to look at it that way.

"They didn't say 'we still want to go on', but: 'we want to go on.' The argument they gave was in a short summary: we looked at everything and put it next to each other, but we think we already have the best manager in house. Then I said: 'then we have to discuss a number of things, about how we interact with each other and work together.' We had a good, honest, but also confrontational conversation about that. As it should be at the top. I also said to them then: 'if you think this is not the way, then we just have to break up."

United have gone on to back Ten Hag by splashing out on Leny Yoro and Joshua Zirkzee. The club are also hoping to add Manuel Ugarte from PSG to the ranks as part of a much-needed summer overhaul. Ratcliffe and Co. will now be hoping the summer signings can help United build on their FA Cup win and that Ten Hag can turn the Red Devils into title challengers once again.