After Erik Ten Hag's Transfer To Manchester United, Ajax CEO Edwin Van Der Sar: We Owe A Lot, Thank You

JAKARTA - CEO of Ajax Amsterdam, Edwin Van Der Sar conveyed a touching message to coincide with the moment of the release of coach Erik Ten Hag to Manchester United.

Ten Hag was officially introduced by the Red Devils as the new coach on Thursday. After this announcement, Ten Hag did not immediately leave Ajax because he would still stay until the end of the season to complete his duties.

Even so, Van Der Sar is aware that the coach will actually leave permanently. To that end, the CEO took the time to send a message to Ten Hag who had been with the team for the past four and a half years.

It was hard for Van Der Sar to let Ten Hag go, but the coach's decision was a big step for his career advancement. Therefore, Van Der Sar tried to understand it.

"Four and a half years is a good time, actually we wanted to keep Erik at Ajax longer. But he will step up to one of the biggest clubs in the world, in a fantastic league," Van Der Sar was quoted as saying on the Ajax Amsterdam website.

Van Der Sar also did not turn a blind eye to Ten Hag's contribution to the team so far which made him feel a lot of debt. For that he expressed his gratitude even though they still had a few weeks left.

"We owe a lot, thanks to Erik for what he has achieved with Ajax so far, but we are not done yet," said Van Der Sar.

"At the end of the season, I will look back further on his departure."

With the remaining time together between Ten Hag and Ajax, Van Der Sar again emphasized that the remaining time must be used to realize the team's target, namely to celebrate the title.

"For now, the important thing is the final. the game of the season where we all want to bring home the league title," Van Der Sar added.

During nearly five seasons as skipper for Ajax, Ten Hag managed to record 156 wins from a total of 210 matches he has led in all competitions.

During that period, Ten Hag also managed to present two Eredivisie titles, two KNVB Cup trophies and one Johan Cruyff Shield.

Under his cold hands, Ajax was also able to become the strongest candidate to win the Dutch League for the 2021/2022 season because they led the standings.

It didn't stop there, the 52-year-old coach also briefly brought Ajax to the 2018/2019 Champions League semifinals after defeating Juventus and Real Madrid.