Soccer
Erik ten Hag sacked by Bayer Leverkusen after three months in charge
Former Manchester United manager Erik ten Hag has been sacked as Bayer Leverkusen boss after just three months in charge.
The 55-year-old left Ajax for Old Trafford in 2022 and led the Red Devils to the Carabao Cup in his first season.
Ten Hag won the FA Cup in an unconvincing second season and was sacked by United after a disappointing start to the 2024/25 campaign.
The Dutchman returned to management in May as Xabi Alonso’s successor at Leverkusen, but has been fired only three months into a two-year deal.
The Bundesliga club said in a statement: “Bayer 04 Leverkusen have parted ways with head coach Erik ten Hag.
“This was decided by the shareholders’ committee, the club’s supervisory body, on the recommendation of the management of Bayer 04. Training will be overseen by the current backroom staff on an interim basis.”
Bayer sporting director Simon Rolfes said: “This decision was not an easy one for us. Nobody wanted to take this step.
“However, the past few weeks have shown that building a new and successful team with this set-up is not feasible.
“We firmly believe in the quality of our team and will now do everything we can to take the next steps in our development with a new set-up.”
Ten Hag had taken charge of just three matches at Leverkusen.
After winning 4-0 at Sonnenhof Grossaspach in the German Cup, the side lost 2-1 at home to Hoffenheim in their Bundesliga opener and then drew 3-3 at 10-man Werder Bremen on Saturday.
Leverkusen chief executive Fernando Carro said: “A parting of ways at this early stage of the season is painful, but we felt it was necessary.
“We remain committed to achieving our goals for the season – and to do that, we need the best possible conditions at all levels and across the entire first team.
“Now it’s a matter of fully implementing and utilising these conditions again.”
Ten Hag becomes the third former United boss to be sacked in five days after Ole Gunnar Solskjaer was let go by Besiktas and Jose Mourinho was sacked by fellow Turkish giants Fenerbahce.
Meanwhile, Leverkusen have completed a deal for Argentinian midfielder Ezequiel Fernandez from Al-Qadsiah of the Saudi Pro League.
The 23-year-old, who played four games at the 2024 Olympic Games in Paris, has agreed a deal until June 2030.
Bayer managing director of sport Simon Rolfes told the club’s official website: “In addition to his robustness and physical resilience, he has excellent game intelligence; he is clever and seasoned despite his relative youth. This special combination makes him a highly interesting player for us.”
