Man Utd losing "one of best young coaches in football" after Manchester derby
Manchester United coach Eric Ramsay has agreed to join MLS side Minnesota United as their new head coach and will depart Old Trafford following the March 3 derby against Manchester City.
The 32-year-old was Minnesota's top managerial target following the departure of interim head coach Sean McAuley, who quit to join Indy Eleven. Ramsay's appointment will make him the youngest head coach in the MLS' history.
According to The Athletic, Ramsay will not take charge of Minnesota's first game of the 2024 MLS campaign. Minnesota is set to start their campaign against Austin FC this weekend and will face reigning MLS Cup champions Columbus Crew in their second fixture before Ramsay takes over ahead of the away trip to Orlando City.
Ramsay will arrive in the US with a big reputation, having previously been in the running for jobs in the English Football League. His experience landed him on Blackpool's shortlist a year ago - but he decided to stay put at Old Trafford. Swansea were also keen on Ramsay to be named Michael Duff's successor last December.
Ramsay also has experience at Chelsea as an U23 assistant coach, as well as on the international stage with Rob Page's Wales. "Eric is arguably one of the best young coaches in football at this moment in time," said Page, who guided Wales to a first World Cup appearance in 2022 since 1958.
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Ramsay, who's also fluent in Spanish, joined the Red Devils under Ole Gunnar Solskjaer's tenure. He also worked with interim manager Ralf Rangnick - but saw his importance grow under the current boss, Erik ten Hag. Man Utd find themselves sixth in the Premier League and on a good run of form following a mixed start to the 2023/24 campaign. Ten Hag's men are unbeaten in their last seven games, while also winning four consecutive Premier League matches.
They face Fulham on Saturday before taking on rivals Man City the following weekend, which will be Ramsay's farewell. The Red Devils will, however, have to make do without star striker Rasmus Hojlund, who has picked up a muscular injury, it has been confirmed.
Eric Ramsay is a highly-rated coach (Getty)"It's a small injury, two to three weeks," Ten Hag said on his summer signing ahead of Fulham. "That’s what happened, that’s the risk playing high intensity in training. It’s not a big injury, but he has to wait now for two-three weeks.”
Man Utd have also seen a shake-up in ownership. Lifelong fan Sir Jim Ratcliffe's deal to buy a 27.7% stake in Manchester United has been completed and the billionaire has already set high expectations. Ratcliffe's target of qualifying for the Champions League could play a factor in whether Ten Hag stays in his post after this season.
Ten Hag is confident he can meet expectations, though. “Absolutely, I have that feeling,” he said. “We have so many talks, we are very aligned, we have the same ambition, we are very aligned in the process.”
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