Ten Hag's career-defining €300m summer: Has he learned from Man Utd mistakes?

Tom Weber

• Updated: 26 Jun 2025 06:18 BST
• 6 min read

Analysis

Erik ten Hag is facing a career-defining summer at Bayer Leverkusen, who are having to carry out a rebuild of epic proportions.

The Dutchman has faced plenty of challenges in his career. Ten Hag coached the biggest club in his native Netherlands before taking charge of arguably the biggest club in England.

Yet the 55-year-old is in the midst of a summer even he has not previously experienced, neither at Ajax nor Man Utd. Leverkusen are currently in the process of being gutted in the truest sense of the word.

Of course, Ten Hag lost key players in the past. In 2019, Ajax sold Frenkie de Jong to Barcelona and Matthijs de Ligt to Juventus. However, they still had the likes of Daley Blind, Donny van de Beek, Hakim Ziyech, David Neres, Kasper Dolberg and Klaas-Jan Huntelaar.

By comparison, Leverkusen have already lost vice-captain Jonathan Tah, starting right-back/winger Jeremie Frimpong and Florian Wirtz, one of the best players in world football.

But it doesn't stop there. Star midfielder Granit Xhaka is in talks with Milan, Piero Hincapie is keen to leave, and Victor Boniface is expected to be sold. Alejandro Garnacho and Robert Andrich could also still be on the move. All of them are full-fledged internationals and reliable players.

Ten Hag to oversee epic rebuild

But it is not just the sheer volume of player turnover that Ten Hag has to contend with. He is also now operating in a vastly different club structure. At Man Utd, prior to INEOS' arrival, he was an all-powerful manager with almost dictatorial authority.

Ten Hag had the ability to overrule the club's recruitment chiefs and veto transfers, a privilege he will not be afforded at Leverkusen. To be sure, he will have a huge say in matters of transfers, but he is not the top dog at the club.

Ten Hag reports to sporting director Simon Rolfes and CEO Fernando Carro, who have built an ambitious project and made a name for themselves by being able to think outside the box.

The appointment of Xabi Alonso in 2022 was a shock. He had no senior coaching experience, and Leverkusen were in the kind of dire sporting position where most Bundesliga clubs would have hired a grizzled caretaker who had been there and done it.

Appointing Alonso proved to be a masterstroke, aided also by Rolfes' and Carro's bold decision to switch up the club's transfer policy. Rather than continuing to sign youngsters to be sold on for a profit later, they brought in experienced top-level stars like Xhaka and Grimaldo.

The rest, of course, is history. Appointing Ten Hag is, in some ways, an equally audacious move. The Dutchman was a hugely divisive figure at Man Utd, and many players couldn't cope with his no-nonsense style.

Of course, Alonso did not shy away from harsh measures, and he expected all of his players to be disciplined, but he is generally a more approachable personality, whereas Ten Hag was hired by Man Utd precisely to be an authoritarian and authoritative figure.

Although the 55-year-old is the most successful manager of the post-Sir Alex Ferguson era, Man Utd's gamble ultimately backfired. Ten Hag came in for merciless criticism for his play style and, particularly, his transfers.

Under his auspices, Man Utd overpaid for players nowhere near good enough for Man Utd, and they are still paying the price for it now, literally and figuratively.

Can Ten Hag adapt to a new system?

At Leverkusen, he will have the guidance of Rolfes and Carro. This has the potential to allow Ten Hag to fully focus on sporting matters, but it could also lead to explosive clashes if he doesn't get his way.

Therefore, this summer window - which starts on 1 July for Bundesliga clubs - is a potentially career-defining one. Leverkusen are likely to raise over €300 million from sales, so they will have money to spend to rebuild their side in Ten Hag's image.

What is certain is that they will be more prudent with their spending than Man Utd. Despite links with Alejandro Garnacho, there is simply no way that Leverkusen will spend €60m, let alone €80m, on any individual.

Still, this is a chance that Ten Hag has likely never had in his career. He has the ability to build almost an entirely new team in just one window, and it will lay the foundation for the rest of his stint in the Rhineland.

Will Ten Hag repeat the mistakes of his Man Utd past, or will he thrive in a more modern environment? Will Leverkusen manage to build a team capable of challenging Bayern again, or will they fall by the wayside after losing half of their starting XI?

This summer, in conjunction with the upcoming season, is the perfect chance for Ten Hag to repair his tarnished reputation. But it also carries the risk of being a complete catastrophe that could spell the end of his career as a truly elite manager.

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