Former Manchester United manager Erik ten Hag has been confirmed as the head coach of German Bundesliga club Bayer Leverkusen, where Super Eagles striker Victor Boniface plays.
“Bayer 04 have appointed Erik ten Hag as the new head coach. The 55-year-old Dutch coach has signed a contract to 30 June 2027,” the 2023/2024 Bundesliga champions stated on Monday.
“Ten Hag, who last worked in the Premier League as the head coach at Manchester United where he won the Carabao Cup in 2023 and the FA Cup in 2024, will start at Bayer 04 on 1 July in preparation for the 2025/2026 season.”
Bayer Leverkusen sporting managing director Simon Rolfes said: “With Erik ten Hag we have brought in an experienced coach with impressive success on the pitch. His six title wins at Ajax were exceptional.
“With three league titles and two domestic cup wins he and Ajax dominated Dutch football from 2018 to 2022.
“And Erik demonstrated his quality as a coach with the ensuing success at Manchester United under difficult circumstances at times.
“Our ideas of football coincide. With technically demanding and dominant football, we want to carry on in the Werkself style and aim for the highest targets in the Bundesliga, DFB Pokal and Champions League.”
Ten Hag replaces Xabi Alonso, who left Bayer Leverkusen to join his old club Real Madrid.
“Bayer Leverkusen is one of the best clubs in Germany and also belongs to the expanded European elite,” Ten Hag said.
“The club offers excellent conditions, the talks with those responsible have impressed me very much. I came to Leverkusen to confirm the ambitions that have grown in recent years.
“It is an attractive task to build something together in this phase of upheaval and to develop an ambitious team.”
