Erik ten Hag opens up on ‘very positive’ first meeting with Jim Ratcliffe

Erik ten Hag described his first meeting with Sir Jim Ratcliffe as “very positive” but admitted he still has much to learn about the billionaire’s plans for Manchester United.

Ratcliffe’s INEOS group will assume control of footballing operations once his purchase of a 25 per cent stake in the club has been ratified in the coming weeks, and he has been in Manchester this week for a series of meetings with club staff.

The meetings have been described as an opportunity for Ratcliffe, as well as senior INEOS officials Sir Dave Brailsford and Jean-Claude Blanc, to get to know the club before they start work in earnest.

“It was very positive, I have to say,” Ten Hag said. “We had a long meeting, many hours we sit together and on many issues we are on the same page so it was very positive.

“I think from both sides it was a very constructive meeting and we look forward to working with them.”

But asked if he had been able to gain a clear idea of what might change under Ratcliffe, Ten Hag said: “We have to let it settle down. They’re just coming in, introducing themselves.

“They have good ideas. We have to see what we can integrate. In togetherness we will work on that but after one day you can’t tell that.

“They have given me a few (ideas), we have had our debates about strategies and I think we will come together.”

Ten Hag would not be drawn on reports that winger Jadon Sancho is close to returning to Borussia Dortmund on a loan until the end of the season.

He has not featured since August after a public falling out with Ten Hag and his refusal to apologise for a social media post in which the 23-year-old said he had been made a “scapegoat”.

A January exit has long been expected and Dortmund, the club Sancho left to join United