Erik ten Hag, Manchester United Agree to Contract Extension Through 2026 after FA Cup

Manchester United manager Erik ten Hag's contract has been extended until June 2026.

Ten Hag's previous contract was set to expire after the upcoming season.

"While the club's review of last season highlighted areas for improvement, it also reached a clear conclusion that Erik was the best partner for us to work with in driving up standards and outcomes," Manchester United sporting director Dan Ashworth said in a statement.

The Red Devils finished last season eighth in the Premier League, the team's lowest league standing since 1990, but capped off the campaign with an FA Cup win.

Ten Hag, 54, will now head into his third season as United's manager since he was appointed in 2022. The club won the EFL Cup in his first season.

Ashworth highlighted those "two trophies in the past two seasons" as part of the reason behind Ten Hag's extension.

Ten Hag said in his own statement that "there is still lots of hard work ahead to reach the levels expected of Manchester United, which means challenging for English and European titles."

Manchester United last finished first in the Premier League during the 2012-13 season under Alex Ferguson.

Since Ten Hag stepped in to replace Ralf Rangnick at the end of the 2021-22 Premier League season, United has accumulated a 41-12-23 record in league play.

The Red Devils in 2023-24 suffered the most time-loss injuries of any team in the league (h/t Ben Dinnery of Premier Injuries) as players including Harry Maguire, Luke Shaw, Mason Mount, Casemiro, Lisandro Martinez, Raphael Varane, Marcus Rashford, Bruno Fernandes were sidelined.

Ten Hag in May cited these injuries as a reason United needed the FA Cup win to get into the Europa League.

"Any manager can always do something better, but I am two years here and I had only one time the full group of players, and you cannot progress a team with so many injuries," Ten Hag said after the Red Devils' record ninth home loss on May 12, per ESPN's Mark Ogden.

"It is like swimming with your hands behind your back. You have to keep your head above water and we are trying to do that."

Although the league record led to an "end-of-season review" by co-owners INEOS and rumors that leadership was considering other potential coaches like Brentford's Thomas Frank (h/t ESPN's Rob Dawson, The Telegraph), those injury limitations— and United's FA Cup win despite them— may ultimately have led the club's decision to stick with its current manager.