Gutted Erik Ten Hag has rued the hardline Financial Fair Play rules which stripped him of Scott McTominay and turned him into a Serie A star.
The Scotland international has become an instant Napoli hero under Antonio Conte, fresh off hitting double figures in his final season at Old Trafford. And an ashen-faced Ten Hag – feeling the heat from Manchester United‘s patchy form – insists it was only the forensic financial rules gripping football which led to his side green-lighting a £25m deal.
Speaking ahead of his side’s clash with Brentford on Saturday, a rueful Ten Hag conceded: “I didn’t want him to leave but it is the rules. The clubs have to deal with the Financial Fair Play rules and the rules are not great. The rules are, I would even say, bad… it forced us to make this decision.”
Meanwhile, Sir Alex Ferguson is no longer on the Manchester United payroll but his presence still looms large over the fallen giants. Current United gaffer ten Hag admitted as much when asked for his reaction to Fergie being stripped of his £2.16million-a-year ambassadorial role. Ten Hag is the only United boss to win trophies in his first two seasons in charge since Fergie retired but with his side down in 14th, is under pressure to turn things around – starting today at home to Brentford.
But like David Moyes, Louis van Gaal, Jose Mourinho and Ole Gunnar Solskjaer before him, Ten Hag is learning how hard it is to manage in Fergie’s shadow. He said: “At the moment we can’t match the standards he set but still we have won trophies. So we’re coming back but obviously we’re not there (yet). There’s almost no club in the world where expectations are as high as at Manchester United and that’s set from the era of Sir Alex. The rest of us who come after have to deal with this.”