Gary Neville suspects that Erik ten Hag will be having words with Ralf Rangnick and Donny van de Beek about the situation at Manchester United. The Dutchman, currently manager of Ajax, is the strong favourite to take over at Old Trafford at the end of the season.
Speaking on his Sky Sports podcast following the draw between Manchester City and Liverpool on Sunday, Neville described his former club as a "farce".
"I read this morning that Erik ten Hag wants all these demands met or else he won’t come to the club," said Neville.
"You imagine [what will happen] if in the next week or 10 days they can’t get Ten Hag over the line because of what’s happening at the club and how bad the club is and the state that the club is in.
"You look at what Manchester United are doing to players currently, there isn’t a player that has grown really. Look at what they did to Van de Beek, and if you’re Ten Hag I think you’re on the phone to Van de Beek and you’re asking, ‘What’s it like there Donny?’ He isn’t going to be saying anything good, is he?
"So I suspect that Ten Hag’s demands – not financial demands but control, recruitment, structure, youth – are about not being exposed to what other managers have been exposed to in this last 10 years.
"And that may be too much for Manchester United, and I suspect they’ve got maybe a difficult week or two. I still think they may get it over the line, but the reports this morning were such that Erik ten Hag’s demands are maybe going above and beyond."
Neville continued: "If you’re Ralf Rangnick reporting in to Ten Hag and answering him honestly, which I suspect he will be, and if you’re Van de Beek answering him honestly, which I suspect he will be, and we know Edwin van der Sar is over there [at Ajax] who will be speaking to Ten Hag honestly.
"They’ll be saying, ‘Be very careful, be very careful about going to Manchester United’ because it can be a graveyard at this moment in time for reputations.
"Ralf Rangnick came in with an incredible reputation, and he still has that reputation, but he’s now starting to be wounded by what’s happening around him and he looks weaker and more vulnerable on the touchline because of the performances of the players on the pitch that are nothing to do with him.
"And I have to say that Ole Gunnar Solskjaer is a good man, those players liked him, and they turned him over! So it’s a really difficult position for the club to be at, I feel at this moment like most Manchester United fans that I don’t know where to turn next or what’s going to happen."
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