MANCHESTER UNITED'S squad rocked up to Carrington this morning to discover Erik ten Hag will officially be taking charge this summer.
The club have confirmed that the 52-year-old Ajax boss is heading to Old Trafford.
After verbally agreeing to take charge last week, he wanted to hold fire on signing the contract until last Sunday's Dutch Cup final – which his team lost to PSV Eindhoven.
Now a £2.5million compensation package has been agreed between United and Ajax.
The hope is that the announcement will lift some of the gloom over the club – following a disappointing few weeks under interim boss Ralf Rangnick.
The Red Devils were thrashed 4-0 at Liverpool on Tuesday in their latest setback as their top four hopes suffered another blow.
Ten Hag has penned a contract until the summer of 2025 at the Theatre of Dreams.
Juan Mata, driving, and Bruno Fernandes were two of the stars spotted rocking up for training earlier just moments before the official announcement.
As were Edinson Cavani and Cristiano Ronaldo, who only returned to work yesterday after the heartbreaking death of his son.
The stars are still reeling from that crushing defeat at Anfield, and Jadon Sancho looked glum-faced as he drove into Carrington.
Ten Hag was keen to get several assurances from the hierarchy before he took the job – to give himself the best possible chance of turning the club around.
There was some interest from RB Leipzig – but once he knew he would get the support he needed there was no doubt in his mind he wanted the United job.
His job will be to turn the Red Devils back into a club that can compete for silverware – as they have not won any since 2017.
Their last Prem title win was nine years ago – in Alex Ferguson's final year as manager.
Since then, David Moyes, Louis van Gaal, Jose Mourinho and Ole Gunnar Solskjaer have all tried to restore the club to its former glories.
Ten Hag now wants to put all his focus on leading Ajax to a third league title of his tenure before moving to the North West in the summer.
