Erik ten Hag will not be targeting a Premier League title challenge in his first season as Manchester United manager, instead aiming for a return to the Champions League.

Ten Hag was confirmed as the club's next permanent manager in April, with the Dutchman set to pick up from interim boss Ralf Rangnick.

After guiding Ajax to a third Eredivisie title in four full seasons at the helm, Ten Hag ended his contract in Amsterdam early in order to start work with United ahead of schedule.

The 52-year-old and his two assistants, Mitchell van der Gaag and Steve McClaren, were present on Sunday as United lost their final match of the season 1-0 to Crystal Palace.

Ten Hag was in Manchester the following day to be introduced to the media for the first time, with playing philosophy, recruitment and squad personnel among the key topics discussed at his news conference.

Talk of seasonal targets was surprisingly absent, but in a separate interview with the club's media channels, Ten Hag provided some insight.

"I said this is the project, to bring Man United back on top, but also we have to accept the current situation we are in," he said.

"First of all, Man United belong in the Champions League, so that will be the first target."

United did appear to be in contention – even if generally regarded as an outside bet – for the top four during much of the 2021-22 season.

But their form suffered badly during the final stages of the season after they were knocked out of the Champions League by Atletico Madrid in March.

Since losing 1-0 to Atletico at home on March 15, United won just twice in the Premier League and lost five times – among those defeats were 4-0 reverses at the hands of Liverpool and Brighton and Hove Albion.

Their form over the past two months has laid bare the size of the task facing Ten Hag. While Rangnick did initially stabilise United slightly at the back after his appointment, in recent times they became leaky again and this was exacerbated by a lack of attacking ruthlessness.

The choice of Ten Hag was said to have been influenced by the brand of football his teams play, with fans appearing to react more positively towards him than Mauricio Pochettino when it was reported the pair were the frontrunners.

And he seems convinced success will follow if he can get his ideas across to the players.

Asked about any wisdom he can take away from Ajax, he added: "There are similarities but also contradictions.

"I have to learn and I have to adjust but I also have to stay myself. I'm convinced that we can bring in the structures and the way of play that we want.

"If we get that done, we get that communicated to the players, then we will get that success.

"Like I want to win. Winning is the most important, but also I have the intention to do that in a certain way and in an attacking way. 

"If we cannot do it like that, we still have to win. That is what we have to put in our team."

Tottenham have stated they can further invest both on and off the pitch after agreeing a capital injection of up to £150million from the club's majority shareholder ENIC Sports Inc (ENIC).

This equity increase has been enabled by "the issue of convertible A Shares and accompanying warrants", according to the Premier League club.

Spurs' statement explained the investment "represents permanent capital, with no ongoing interest cost to the club, and which may be drawn in tranches until the end of the year".

The statement added that Spurs' "independent directors have benefited from [their] majority shareholder's ability to invest directly, swiftly and without the extensive due diligence and documentation involved in third party funding."

ENIC now has the ability to increase its ownership from 85.6 per cent to 87.5 per cent. 

The news comes after reports emerged that Antonio Conte, who guided Spurs to Champions League qualification, had been promised up to six new signings in the close season.

"The delivery of a world-class home was always a key building block in driving diversified revenues to enable us to invest in the teams and support our ambitions to be consistently competing at the highest levels of European football," said Spurs chairman Daniel Levy.

"Additional capital from ENIC will now enable further investment in the club at an important time."

Gareth Southgate believes the rest of Europe's leading leagues face a "jump" to the Premier League, but he has suggested Fikayo Tomori's Serie A title success with Milan represents "a really good bridge".

Tomori has long since been touted as a potential England star, yet he only returned to Southgate's senior set-up on Tuesday after clinching the Scudetto with the Rossoneri.

The former Chelsea man is well established as one of the finest defenders in Italy, although the Three Lions manager suggested this alone was not enough to put him ahead of Premier League rivals.

Southgate has also watched Tammy Abraham play in Serie A this season, with the Roma forward becoming the highest-scoring English player in a single season in the league's history (17 goals – ahead of Gerry Hitchens' 16 for Inter in 1961-62).

This has given Southgate and his coaching staff a greater understanding of the level of play in Italy, but the England boss says it pales next to the "powerful" English game, even if the pressure of a title race has now played in Tomori's favour.

"Firstly, huge credit to both the boys for going and adapting to living abroad, playing a different style of football, the endeavour to learn another language and fit in culturally with the group," Southgate said after announcing his squad for June's Nations League fixtures. "That deserves huge credit.

"We're watching a lot of Serie A, we're watching a lot of the Bundesliga, we were watching a lot of LaLiga when Tripps [Kieran Trippier] was there – the leagues are different levels to the Premier League.

"Milan's defence, if you looked at the defence in the last few months of the season, was very young, with very few international caps right across the back four.

"Inter are very strong; I think, in those leagues, the top two or three teams are very strong.

"But compared to the depth of the Premier League, there isn't the financial clout and so the depth isn't the same. And the intensity of the games is very different – there is a lot more structure, a lot less transitional.

"There is a jump, I think, and I think that's been shown in a lot of the Champions League fixtures and European fixtures.

"Our league is incredibly powerful in terms of its spending power. Some of the smallest teams in our league, with the least financial resource, can compete with some historic European giants. It's a great product we've got.

"So, we're trying to map all of that when we're assessing the players and the levels of their performances – because we watch them week in, week out, really clearly, we're pretty clear on what that is, so we're realistic in our expectations.

"But, of course, Fik in particular comes with the confidence of having just won a league title, playing at Milan in front of 70,000, 80,000 people every week.

"That's a similar sort of pressure to what he's going to have in an England shirt. It's a really good bridge."

Tomori was preferred to a more experienced option like Tottenham's Eric Dier, who is "definitely in our thinking", Southgate said.

"We know him," Southgate explained of Dier's absence, but Leicester City's James Maddison, coming off the best scoring season of his Premier League career (12 goals), was snubbed because he remains behind Mason Mount and Phil Foden in the pecking order.

The England manager still will not rule out any option ahead of the Qatar World Cup, however, adding: "We have September, and I think there's always the possibility that somebody emerges. That's always happened when I've been selecting squads."

Elsewhere, Southgate confirmed he had spoken to Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta before selecting Bukayo Saka, while there were discussions with Liverpool's Champions League finalists Trent Alexander-Arnold and Jordan Henderson.

Alexander-Arnold is involved but will likely only to take part in "the first part of the camp", though Southgate "didn't need to see" Henderson.

Harry Kane's future at Tottenham hinges on whether he can achieve his ambitions by staying put, according to former Spurs boss Andre Villas-Boas.

Kane was heavily linked with a move to Manchester City at the end of the 2020-21 season, but the Premier League champions were seemingly unwilling to meet Spurs' asking price.

The uncertainty around the player's future led to him sitting out the opening-weekend win over City at the start of the 2021-22 campaign.

Despite a slow start to the season, with Kane managing only two goal involvements (one goal, one assist) in his first 13 Premier League games, he went on to record 24 (16 goals, eight assists) over his next 24 games.

The turnaround in form came shortly after the arrival of Antonio Conte as Nuno Espirito Santo's replacement, and the Italian guided Spurs to fourth place and Champions League qualification, secured with a final-day 5-0 rout of Norwich City, in which Kane scored and assisted.

Further questions regarding Kane's future are likely to arise during pre-season, though City have since moved on and completed the signing of Erling Haaland from Borussia Dortmund.

Villas-Boas, who managed Spurs for 17 months until December 2013, feels Kane's future will be determined by his personal ambitions, and if any potential buying club is willing to match Tottenham's demands.

"I think it's up to him to decide what is progress in his career or not," he told Stats Perform. "If you fulfil your own ambitions of being in Tottenham and making a part of the history in Tottenham, that is great.

"If you have ambitions to go further and to test yourself in other environments, I think you will depart.

"I think it is up to him, it's also up to the clubs who can come around knocking and take him away, but I wish him all the best as well.

"He's a good boy, he has proved a lot of people wrong, he has established himself and I sincerely hope he does well."

Kurt Zouma has pleaded guilty to kicking and slapping his pet cat.

Zouma has been charged with three animal welfare offences after the West Ham defender was alleged to have harmed one of his two cats.

A video came to light in February showing the France international appearing to kick and slap the animal.

The 27-year-old and his brother Yoan arrived at Thames Magistrates' Court on Tuesday for a first hearing, where Kurt pleaded guilty to two counts under the Animal Welfare Act.

Yoan filmed the video and shared it on social media, and has himself been charged with two alleged offences in relation to the incident that took place on February 6.

In the video, Kurt Zouma was seen to kick the Bengal cat across his kitchen, before throwing shoes at it and slapping it on the head.

Prosecutor Hazel Stevens told the court the former Chelsea player could be heard saying: "I swear I'll kill it, I swear I'll kill it."

Kurt Zouma admitted two counts of causing unnecessary suffering to a protected animal, while Yoan admitted one count of aiding, abetting, counselling or procuring Kurt to commit an offence.

The RSPCA took both of the footballer's cats into care and started a process of bringing a prosecution case against both men in March.

Speaking after the hearing, RSPCA chief inspectorate officer Dermot Murphy said: "It's never acceptable to treat an animal in this way and we were shocked when the video was first brought to our attention.

"What makes this case even more sad is the way the video was filmed and shared, making light of such cruelty.

"We hope this case will serve as a reminder that all animals deserve to be treated with kindness, compassion and respect, and that we will not tolerate cruelty."

Sentencing has been adjourned until June 1.

Real Madrid have set their sights on Manchester City forward Raheem Sterling after missing out on Paris Saint-Germain's Kylian Mbappe.

The Spanish giants were widely regarded as favourites to land Mbappe until a late change of heart led to him signing a three-year extension to stay in France.

Madrid and City went head to head in the Champions League semi-final, but they may find themselves talking business soon for the England international.

 

TOP STORY – LOS BLANCOS PREPARE BID FOR STERLING

Sterling has spent seven seasons with City, racking up 131 goals in 338 appearances in all club competitions, and has played no fewer than 46 games in any of those campaigns.

Despite this, his playing time waned in the closing stages of this season, culminating in the Champions League when he only played a combined 28 minutes across both fixtures against Madrid.

Sterling set a record at the time for the most expensive transfer of an English player when he was sold to City for £44million plus add-ons in 2015, but Madrid are not looking to overshoot that number by much, with the Daily Star reporting they will offer £50million.

ROUND-UP

– According to Sky Sports, Sadio Mane fancies a move to Bayern Munich in the upcoming transfer window.

– The Telegraph is reporting Tottenham will sign six players, heavily investing in an attempt to convince Antonio Conte to stay.

– The Telegraph is also reporting one player high on Tottenham's wish-list is Manchester City striker Gabriel Jesus, who also has strong interest from Arsenal.

Arsenal will try to sell as many as seven first-team players in the upcoming transfer window – with Hector Bellerin and Bernd Leno named by The Sun. The Telegraph added that Leicester City midfielder Youri Tielemans is a key target for the Gunners.

– The Times is reporting Leeds United are set to sign 21-year-old USA international Brenden Aaronson from RB Salzburg for £23m.

Kylian Mbappe revealed he had discussions with Liverpool while he was weighing up his options, before ultimately deciding to re-sign with Paris Saint-Germain.

Mbappe, 23, is widely considered the most valuable player in world football, and was tipped to leave France to join Real Madrid when his contract expired at the end of this season.

He ended up turning his back on his favourite childhood club in favour of remaining in his home country, signing a deal that will keep him in Paris through 2025.

While most believed it was a true two-horse race between the Spanish and French giants, Mbappe revealed in an interview with TeleFoot that he entertained the idea of heading to Anfield.

"It was not just Real Madrid and PSG – I was in talks to join Jurgen Klopp at Liverpool," he said.

In an interview with the Telegraph, he added his motivation, and that Liverpool was not part of his final deliberation.

"I talked to Liverpool because it’s the favourite club of my mum – my mum loves Liverpool," he said. "I don’t know why, you will have to ask her.

"It’s a good club and we [first] met them five years ago. When I was in Monaco I met them. It’s a big club.

"We talked a little bit, but not too much… of course, it was between Real Madrid and Paris Saint-Germain in the end."

The superstar forward also shined some light on why he may have back-flipped on his desire to head to Madrid, saying that leaving on a free transfer with Paris Saint-Germain getting nothing in return did not sit right with him.

"Everybody knows I wanted to leave for Real Madrid last year, and I think it was a good choice to leave last year," he said. "But now it’s different because I was a free agent.

"I was a free agent, and it was important to give back to my country. If I had left I would have left as a great player, but there is a sentimental part. 

"I don’t think my chapter is closed. Things were not over for me at PSG.

"I’m French and I know I’m important in the country, and when you are important you have to think not only about football, but about your life. 

"I will be in France after my career. I will leave here [PSG], I will be with my family, my friends. 

"The only thing I can say is thank you to all the Real Madrid fans, and the club, because they gave me all the love. 

"It’s amazing because I was only there for one week when I was 14 [to train]. I said to them good luck for the Champions League [final]."

Ilkay Gundogan came off the bench to inspire Manchester City to the win that secured the Premier League title on Sunday, but spare a thought for Bernardo Silva.

Gundogan came on in the 68th minute, just before Philippe Coutinho made it 2-0 to Aston Villa, as it looked like City would let the title slip from their grasp.

But in scenes comparable to their incredible win over QPR on the final day of the 2011-12 season, City scored three goals in the space of five minutes and 37 seconds to turn the game on its head.

Gundogan scored twice, either side of Rodri's equaliser, to seal his name in City folklore.

It was Silva who made way for Gundogan and, while celebrating his first Premier League title in style, it would seem a rather jolly Jack Grealish could not resist having a friendly jibe at his team-mate.

Having taken the microphone from Kyle Walker, who had been busy eulogising about John Stones, Grealish said on City's official live stream of the open-top bus parade through Manchester: "Do you know what, I said earlier on the coach, it's been brilliant to win my first title.

"I want to thank everyone, but the main person I want to thank is Bernardo Silva for coming off in the 70th minute, because he was miles off it yesterday!"

Grealish seemed intent on being the life of the party, also quipping that Pep Guardiola had signed him because he is the only player capable of beating Walker in a one-v-one, though the England international is probably fortunate that City do not have training to focus on any time soon. He may just have a sore head come Tuesday morning.

Manchester United are in good hands with Erik ten Hag, according to one of the club's owners, Avram Glazer.

Ten Hag has been appointed as United's new manager, replacing interim boss Ralf Rangnick.

The former Ajax coach was in attendance as United lost to Crystal Palace in their final Premier League game of the season on Sunday, and he started work on Monday.

United have not won the title since Alex Ferguson's final season in 2012-13, though they did finish as runners-up under Ole Gunnar Solskjaer in the 2020-21 campaign.

That has led to frustration among the supporters, with numerous protests against the Glazer's ownership having been staged this season.

Questioned by Sky News at the World Economic Forum in Davos on Monday, Glazer backed Ten Hag as the right selection, while also insisting money has "always" been spent to improve the squad, despite fan criticism.

"That's why we hired him, we know he'll do a great job," said Glazer.

He added that "we've always spent the money necessary to buy new players" when asked if funds would be available for Ten Hag ahead of next season.

Commenting on United's dismal campaign, which saw them finish sixth with their lowest ever Premier League points tally (58), Glazer said: "It is a disappointing season, a disappointing season for everyone, and we're going to work hard to make next season a better season."

Mohamed Salah and Son Heung-min were more deserving winners of the Premier League Player of the Season award than Kevin De Bruyne.

That is according to Liverpool legend Phil Thompson, who also told Stats Perform that Erling Haaland will not necessarily make Manchester City a stronger side next season.

City playmaker De Bruyne last week edged out Son, Salah, Trent Alexander-Arnold, Joao Cancelo, Jarrod Bowen, Bukayo Saka and James Ward-Prowse for the award.

The Belgium international played a key part in City's successful title defence with 15 goals in 30 league appearances and a further eight assists.

Remarkably, the 30-year-old's 15 goals came from an expected goals (xG) return of just 6.2, meaning he scored nine goals more than expected from the quality of his chances.

However, his 23 direct goal involvements were fewer than Salah (36), Son (30) and Harry Kane (26) managed, albeit having played at least five games fewer than any of those.

De Bruyne ranked above each of those players for chances created (87), though, and was behind only Alexander-Arnold (90) and Bruno Fernandes (89).

But Thompson believes that Liverpool forward Salah and Tottenham's Son – who shared the Golden Boot with 23 goals – were more consistent than De Bruyne over the season.

"I think it has to be Mo. I know the players have all given it to Kevin De Bruyne and he's a wonderful player," Thompson said. 

"He's been wonderful for the last couple of months, but it's over a season and people get swayed by people who finish the season well. 

"That is still in their minds when they're just putting their name on that form, or whether it's all done on phone now. 

"But I would like to think over the whole year, and yes, Mo hasn't been rattling them in for the last six weeks or so, but overall, he has been.

"They were talking around Christmas time that this is the best player in the world. He's not gone from being the best player in the world to playing second fiddle to De Bruyne. 

"I'm sorry. Mo Salah was the player of the season and then probably Son has probably been more consistent over the whole nine months."

City's title triumph was their fourth in the past five seasons and they have already moved to bolster their squad with the signing of Haaland from Borussia Dortmund.

Haaland scored 86 goals in 89 games for Dortmund, a tally only bettered by Kylian Mbappe (90) and Robert Lewandowski (123) since January 18, 2020. 

But, citing a rather mixed campaign for British record signing Jack Grealish, Thompson questioned whether Pep Guardiola will get the most out of Haaland.

"He is a wonderful player, a great player," said Thompson, who won 17 major honours across 13 years playing for Liverpool, before a stint coaching the Reds.

"Is he a missing piece for the jigsaw for them in the Champions League? They can still do things, but it might upset them a little bit. 

"As you see with Grealish, who was £100million, has that worked? He's playing as a left-winger because it's the system that Pep likes. 

"So you've got an out-and-out centre-forward who, yes, is full of energy, but he doesn't understand the press that City use. It'll be a change for them. That might change things." 

Liverpool, who have seen Luis Diaz hit the ground running since joining from Porto in January, are themselves expected to be active in the upcoming transfer window.

A deal for Fulham teenager Fabio Carvalho is already in place, but Thompson is not sure if signing a big name is really necessary in order to keep pace with champions City.

"We have a set pattern, though I still hope that we'll sign a couple of players," he said.

"I do believe that's what you have to do all the time to give that little bit of a buzz in the dressing room, to change things up on the pitch. And we have just come up short."

The 92 points accrued by Liverpool this season is the joint-eighth most in Premier League history, yet it was not enough to pip City, who finished one point better off.

Thompson added: "We have to find the magic ingredient to go that extra couple of points to win that league, but we don't have to do too much. 

"Chelsea signed Romelu Lukaku and he played well those first half a dozen games. They were going to win the league the way the season started and look how that's unravelled.

"It's not necessarily a gimme that it always works."

Manchester City defender Benjamin Mendy has pleaded not guilty to nine charges of sexual offences.

The France international appeared at a hearing in Chester Crown Court on Monday to enter pleas for the first time.

Mendy denies seven counts of rape, one count of sexual assault and one count of attempted rape.

The 27-year-old was charged following allegations made by six women, with the alleged offences said to have taken place between October 2018 and August 2021.

Defender Mendy is due to face trial on July 25.

The full-back was remanded in custody last August, but was released on bail in January.

He was suspended by Premier League champions City after initially being charged with four counts of rape and one count of sexual assault nine months ago.

Co-defendant Louis Saha Matturie also appeared Chester Crown Court on Monday, pleading not guilty to eight counts of rape and four counts of sexual assault.

Merseyside Police have confirmed they will take no action after Patrick Vieira was involved in an altercation with an Everton fan at Goodison Park.

The incident took place in the aftermath of Everton's 3-2 comeback win over Vieira's Crystal Palace in the Premier League on Thursday, which ensured Frank Lampard's side would avoid relegation.

Widely circulated footage appeared to show Vieira kicking out at a supporter after being goaded as Everton fans flooded onto the playing surface at full-time.

While Vieira refused to comment on the incident in his post-match news conference, Merseyside Police announced an investigation, though have now confirmed they will be taking no action, suggesting that neither the former Arsenal and France midfielder nor the fan in question chose to make a formal complaint.

A statement released on the Merseyside Police website on Monday said: "Merseyside Police has concluded enquiries into an altercation on the pitch at Goodison Park following the Everton v Crystal Palace match on Thursday (19 May).

"We worked with Everton FC to gather all available CCTV footage and spoke to witnesses.

"Officers have spoken to both men involved and the opportunity to make a formal complaint or support a prosecution was declined."

There has been a worrying increase of violent incidents during pitch invasions in the last week.

A Nottingham Forest fan was jailed for attacking Sheffield United's Billy Sharp, while on Sunday Aston Villa goalkeeper Robin Olsen was attacked as Manchester City fans flooded onto the Etihad Stadium pitch after their team sealed the Premier League title.

Kurt Zouma has been charged with three animal welfare offences after the West Ham defender was alleged to have harmed his cat.

A video came to light in February showing the France international appearing to kick and slap one of his pets.

Zouma's younger brother Yoan filmed the video and shared it on social media, and has himself been charged with two alleged offences.

The RSPCA took both of Kurt Zouma's cats into care and started a process of bringing a prosecution case against the 27-year-old in March.

Both brothers will have to attend Thames Magistrates' Court on Tuesday.

Kurt Zouma is accused of two counts of causing "unnecessary suffering" to the cat, by kicking it in the abdomen and slapping it in the head, and a further count of failing to protect the cat from "pain suffering, injury or disease".

Yoan Zouma has been charged with aiding or abetting his brother to commit two of the above offences.

Erik ten Hag said Ralf Rangnick's continued working relationship with Manchester United is a matter for the club, while saying now is the time to "make a future".

Rangnick stepped in as interim boss when Ole Gunnar Solskjaer was sacked back in November, with the initial intention being he would move into an advisory role at the end of the season.

United's performances and squad harmony came under a lot of scrutiny under Rangnick, but he insisted he would remain as a consultant even when being named as Austria head coach earlier this month.

Ten Hag is the man United, who finished sixth in the Premier League, tasked with bringing the good times back to Old Trafford and he said regardless of whether Rangnick continues to work with the club the key decisions will be his.

"I analyse by myself. I observe and I speak with a lot of people. But I will draw my own line," he said at a media conference on Monday.

"That [if Rangnick stays] is for the club."

United have failed to win a trophy since 2017, while they last won the Premier League title in Alex Ferguson's last season in charge in the 2012-13 campaign.

The Red Devils recorded their lowest ever points tally in the competition, while rumblings that all is not well among the playing squad have been present throughout a tumultuous campaign.

Ten Hag is leaving a job where he has delivered three Eredivisie titles and overseen a run to the Champions League semi-finals back in the 2018-19 season.

But the Dutchman does not believe he is taking a risk by making the move to Old Trafford.

"The confidence is that I have a good feeling with the people around, I have a good feeling from the meetings. We have a plan and now it's about getting the plan done," he added.

"What we are thinking about is this is a project, I know it takes time, but I also know that in this club, and I have the experience with other clubs like Ajax and Bayern Munich, at the top there's never time. But we want to win, we want every game, so we go from game to game and then we will see.

"I don't see it as a risk. This club has a great history and now let's make a future. It is really exciting to do that with the people around at the club, we will bring new people into the staff, and work with the players to try and achieve success."

United finished 35 points adrift of champions and rivals Manchester City this season and Ten Hag is focused on building rather than making ambitious claims to challenge for the title.

"I don't think about that at this moment. I'm thinking that this is a project and it takes time," he said.

"We want to win every game. We go from game to game and then we'll see.

"It's a fantastic league. I've already met big coaches and big teams in the Premier League and I know how to deal with that. But it's clear, the Premier League is the biggest league in the world I think and I'm looking forward to battling with them."

Erik ten Hag says Cristiano Ronaldo is part of his plans, but the new Manchester United manager has yet to decide if Harry Maguire will remain captain next season.

Former Ajax boss Ten Hag was appointed as Ralf Rangnick's successor last month on an initial three-year deal and officially started work at Old Trafford on Monday.

Ten Hag takes over on the back of United's worst ever Premier League season in terms of points, with 2021-22 their fifth successive campaign without any silverware.

The Dutchman has a number of pressing issues to deal with, not least Ronaldo's future and the wider debate over who should skipper United.

Ronaldo scored 24 goals in 38 appearances for United in his first season back at the club, which is 13 goals more than next-best Bruno Fernandes.

Indeed, aside from Ronaldo and Fernandes, no other United player made it into double figures for the campaign in all competitions.

Despite netting some vital goals for the Red Devils, Ronaldo's place in the side has been questioned due to his work off the ball.

But asked at his unveiling news conference whether the Portugal international has a part to play under him next season, Ten Hag responded: "Of course".

Probed on what he expects Ronaldo to bring to the side, Ten Hag simply replied: "Goals".

Ronaldo captained United at times this term when regular skipper Maguire was absent, with some questioning whether the defender should hand over the armband permanently.

Rangnick previously suggested it should be down to the players to vote on who captains United from next season, though Ten Hag is expected to have the final say.

The 52-year-old, who guided Ajax to three Eredivisie titles in his four full seasons in charge, gave little away when commenting on the situation on Monday.

"Next season is a different season," he said. "Harry's done a good job and he's a great player. 

"He's achieved a lot and has contributed a lot to Manchester United, so I'm looking forward to working with him."

While Ronaldo and Maguire look set to play a part in United's latest new chapter, Ten Hag is expected to oversee a big overhaul in the coming transfer window.

"I'm still in the process of analysing, to set conclusions," Ten Hag said of United's transfer business.

"But I'm looking forward to working with the players I have. The season before, this squad was second in the league, so there is huge potential.

"I think if we improve, if we work with them, I think we can get out more than what was the result from this season."

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