Former Manchester United head coach Erik ten Hag has been appointed as the new manager of Bayer Leverkusen. In a statement on Monday, Bayer Leverkusen announced Ten Hag will replace Xabi Alonso, who was on Sunday announced as the new Real Madrid manager.
According to the German side, the 55-year-old has signed a contract as head coach until 2027. The Dutchman, who led Manchester United to Carabao Cup victory in 2023 and FA Cup success in 2024, will assume his role at Bayer 04 on 1 July in preparation for the 2025/26 season. Bayer 04’s managing director of sport, Simon Rolfes, described Ten Hag as a coach with an impressive record of success on the pitch.
“We have brought in an experienced coach with impressive success on the pitch. His six title wins at Ajax were exceptional. With three league titles and two domestic cup wins he and Ajax dominated Dutch football from 2018 to 2022. And Erik demonstrated his quality as a coach with the ensuing success at Manchester United under difficult circumstances at times.
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“Our ideas of football coincide. With technically demanding and dominant football, we want to carry on in the Werkself style and aim for the highest targets in the Bundesliga, DFB Pokal and Champions League,” Rolfes said.
Ten Hag may face a difficult task at Bayer 04 following the departures of key players such as Jonathan Tah, Jeremie Frimpong, and, most notably, Florian Wirtz. The Dutchman does have experience in Germany, having previously served as head coach of Bayern Munich II between 2013 and 2015 under Pep Guardiola.
During his time with Bayern’s second team, Ten Hag won the Regionalliga Bayern and worked with players including Mitchell Weiser.
