Bayer Leverkusen have unveiled Erik ten Hag as their new manager on a two-year contract.
The Dutchman replaces Xabi Alonso, who left the club ahead of a move to Real Madrid after a historic 2023-24 campaign which Leverkusen won the domestic double while also setting a European record of going 51 games unbeaten.
Ten Hag has been without a job since November 2024 after he was sacked as Manchester United head coach after a poor start to the season.
The 51-year-old won the League Cup in 2023 and FA Cup in 2024 – and before his reign in England, he was hugely successful in his homeland with Ajax, winning three Eredivisie titles, two domestic cups and one Johan Cruyff Shield during his four-and-a-half year spell in which he famously guided the Dutch giants to the 2018-19 UEFA Champions League semi-final as they crashed out painfully to a Lucas Moura 96th-minute winner.
“With Erik ten Hag, we rely on an experienced coach with an impressive sporting track record,” said Bayer Leverkusen’s sporting director Simon Rolfes on the club website.
“His six titles with Ajax Amsterdam were exceptional. With three championships and two cup wins, he and Ajax dominated Dutch football unchallenged from 2018 to 2022.
“And Erik also proved his class as a coach with his subsequent successes with Manchester United under sometimes difficult conditions.”
After Go Ahead Eagles, Bayern Munich’s second team, FC Utrecht, Ajax, and Manchester United, the Leverkusen job will be his sixth in the last 13 years.
Ajax approached Ten Hag after Italian manager Francesco Farioli abruptly left the club after one season. Technical director Alex Kroes confirmed to ESPN that he’d been in contact with Ten Hag, but the latter told the club he preferred a new adventure elsewhere.
“Bayer 04 is one of the best clubs in Germany and is also part of the European elite. The club offers excellent conditions, and I was very impressed by the talks I had with the people in charge,” Ten Hag said.
“I came to Leverkusen to confirm the ambitions that have grown over the past few years. It is an exciting task to build something together in this phase of upheaval and to develop an ambitious team.”
Ten Hag takes over a Bayer Leverkusen side likely in need of a partial rebuild – with star name Florian Wirtz reportedly on the verge of a move to English champions Liverpool and will likely be joined by Ten Hag’s fellow countryman Jeremie Frimpong. Captain Jonathan Tah will also leave the club upon the expiration of his contract this summer.
