‘We worked very well together’ – Ten Hag breaks silence as football director leaves Manchester United

Manchester United manager Erik ten Hag delivered a thank you message to John Murtough after the football director’s departure was announced by the club earlier this week.

The 53-year-old spent 11 years at Carrington and Tuesday’s statement confirmed his decision to step down from the role. It has been long believed that United will soon hire Dan Ashworth as the club’s first-ever sporting director.

Ten Hag admitted he will miss Murtough’s support during his pre-match press conference to preview Saturday’s game with Bournemouth.

“I think you mentioned something big there [about the structure], in the new season, it is very important that the new ownership is working on this,” Ten Hag said, as quoted by the Manchester Evening News. 

“They have to replace his function, to go into the new season. For the moment, I now miss his support and the surrounding board, you miss that. But he moved on and has made his choice. We worked very well together and I must say thank you to John and I wish him all the best for the future.”

It remains to be seen what the future holds for Murtough, but at United he was part of the Glazer regime which means he will never be a popular name amongst fans.

I understand Ten Hag and Murtough worked well together but we can hope for even better in the future if United can hire Dan Ashworth before the transfer window opens.

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