Erik ten Hag is a “serious candidate” for Bayer 04 Leverkusen | OneFootball

Former Manchester United manager Erik ten Hag is reportedly a “serious candidate” to take over at Bayer Leverkusen should Xabi Alonso leave the German club this summer.

Alonso, 43, achieved a remarkable feat last season by leading Leverkusen to an unbeaten season in the Bundesliga as they blew away the competition, including Bayern Munich, to win Germany’s top division.

It was Die Werkself’s first league win in their history and was coupled with a triumph in the DFB Pokal – Germany’s biggest cup competition. To have gone unbeaten domestically (having also made the Europa League final without losing a game, only to fall to Atalanta 3-0 in Dublin) is nothing short of astonishing.

Alonso had been hotly tipped to leave the BayArena last summer but chose to stay as Leverkusen sought to defend their titles. However, this season has not matched the dizzying heights of last with the club second in the Bundesliga, eights point off Bayern, and having already been knocked out of the DFB Pokal and Champions League.

This has not diminished Alonso’s burgeoning reputation as a coach with the Spaniard appearing on the verge of being confirmed as Carlo Ancelotti’s successor at Real Madrid this summer.

But this leaves Leverkusen with the prospect of needing a new manager and, according to Florian Plettenberg, Ten Hag is one option “on their shortlist.”

The Sky Sports Germany reporter contends the 55-year-old Dutchman is a “serious candidate” with the German champions having “gathered information” on the former United manager.

Tweet: “Yes, Erik ten Hag is a serious candidate for Bayer 04 Leverkusen! As reported by @kicker_B04, the 55-year-old Dutchman is on their shortlist, although there have not yet been any concrete talks with him. But Leverkusen have gathered information on Ten Hag as they explore the market. #MUFC

As of Wednesday morning, Bayer 04 are still waiting for Xabi Alonso’s decision.”

Ten Hag was dismissed from his position at Old Trafford last October after a poor start to the season, having endured a miserable campaign in the previous year, despite the success in the FA Cup against bitter rival Manchester City.

But as his replacement – Ruben Amorim – has found, the spotlight at the Theatre of Dreams is a harsh one which conspires to turn good coaches into bad ones, with United sinking to even greater depths in the league than under Ten Hag.

Clubs across Europe are likely to look at the Red Devils as something of a curse with no real insight into how a player, or manager, should be assessed based on their time in Manchester.

The positive work Ten Hag achieved in Amsterdam with Ajax will feature more highly in executives at the BayArena’s mind than the Dutchman’s misery at Old Trafford when assessing him as a potential replacement for Alonso.

Featured image Octavio Passos via Getty Images

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