“I advised him to leave last summer.”

Erik ten Hag was advised to “leave through the front door” at Manchester United following last season’s FA Cup final win against Manchester City.

After the Reds recorded their worst-ever Premier League finish, it looked like the writing was on the wall for Ten Hag ahead of the showpiece event at Wembley.

In fact, just 24 hours before the FA Cup final, it emerged that the Dutchman would be sacked even if he managed to win the FA Cup.

But against all odds, United recorded a 2-1 victory over Manchester City as goals from Alejandro Garnacho and Kobbie Mainoo sealed a crucial trophy for the cabinet.

It was an uncertain time for the Dutchman and after the final, lifelong friend Leon Ten Voorde passed on some advice of his own.

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Speaking on the De Ballen Verstand podcast, Leon Ten Voorde said: “I advised him to leave last summer. He won the FA Cup, so you leave through the front door. He’s had a lot of injuries this past year. But then trainers think: ‘I can turn things around’.”

Ten Voorde added: “How long does United think this can go on? That question is now hanging over United and Ten Hag again. In general, he is calm and relaxed. But I can’t imagine that this leaves you completely unaffected.”

After an end-of-season review, it was decided that Ten Hag would remain in charge for the 2024/25 campaign.

But ahead of this Sunday’s clash against Aston Villa, the club are without a win in four matches, having been held to a 3-3 draw by Porto in the Europa League on Thursday night.

In a recent interview, United co-owner Sir Jim Ratcliffe refused to give Ten Hag assurances over his future at Old Trafford amid intense speculation around his future.

Image credit: Getty

“I don’t want to answer that question,” he told the BBC.

“I like Erik. I think he’s a very good coach but at the end of the day it’s not my call, it’s the management team that’s running Manchester United that have to decide how we best run the team in many different respects.”

He added: “But that team that’s running Manchester United has only been together since June or July. They weren’t there in January, February, March or April – [CEO] Omar [Berrada], [Sporting Director] Dan Ashworth – they only arrived in July.

“They’ve only been there… you can count it in weeks almost – they’ve not been there a long time so they need to take stock and make some sensible decisions.

“Our objective is very clear – we want to take Manchester United back to where it should be, and it’s not there yet, obviously – that’s very clear.”