Former boss has been appointed the new manager of . The German club have announced that Ten Hag has signed an initial two-year contract, replacing after he joined .

after they were unable to prise preferred candidate away from Italian side Como following . Ten Hag, 55, has been out of work since October .

Having joined the Red Devils from in 2022, Ten Hag won two trophies - the and - over the course of his tumultuous tenure. Ten Hag's position was under threat last season following an eighth-place finish before .

The ex-Ajax, and boss was then backed with £200million in the summer, but failure to improve results led to his dismissal. Ten Hag was patient after departing Old Trafford, .

It's understood that he wanted to wait until the summer to return to management. And his patience has paid off with a move to former champions Leverkusen.

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Ten Hag said: "Bayer 04 are one of the best clubs in Germany and also among the top clubs in Europe. The club offers outstanding conditions, I've been very impressed with the discussions of the management.

"I've come to Leverkusen to continue with the ambition shown in recent years. It's an attractive challenge to set up something together in this period of change and develop an ambitious team."

Sporting director Simon Rolfes added: "With Erik ten Hag we have brought in an experienced coach with impressive success on the pitch. His six title wins at Ajax were exceptional. With three league titles and two domestic cup wins he and Ajax dominated Dutch football from 2018 to 2022.

Will Erik ten Hag be successful at Bayer Leverkusen? Have your say in the .

"And Erik demonstrated his quality as a coach with the ensuing success at Manchester United under difficult circumstances at times. Our ideas of football coincide. With technically demanding and dominant football, we want to carry on in the Werkself style and aim for the highest targets in the Bundesliga, DFB Pokal and ."

They've confirmed that Ten Hag has signed a contract until 2027. Unfortunately for the 55-year-old, he's set to miss out on the chance to coach some of Leverkusen's best players who helped them win the title in 2024.

Defender Jonathan Tah has opted not to sign a new contract and will join on a free transfer. Meanwhile, star attacker Florian Wirtz and highly-rated wing-back Jeremie Frimpong are both in talks to join , potentially banking Leverkusen close to £150m.

It's not the first time that Ten Hag has worked in Germany. He spent two seasons in charge of Bayern's reserves between 2013 and 2015, learning from then-first-team manager .

Recently, Ten Hag opened on life outside of coaching. "There are so many other things I could do," he told the . "Maybe in football, in a new position as a manager. That's an option. And maybe something completely different."

"I've been working with my brothers lately. We have our own company. Or rather; they have their own company. But we also run a company together with our father. That's also something I love to do I can now give that more attention and it's also a lot of fun."

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