Much was made of former Manchester United defender Jaap Stam’s comments about Erik ten Hag on the eve of the league opener against Fulham.
The 1999 Treble winner dominated headlines after he was a guest on the ‘Up Front with Simon Jordan’ podcast, where it appeared he called for the sacking of his fellow Dutchman.
‘For Ten Hag, it’s his third season at United – I think he needs to go,’ Stam said.
‘He needs to look at himself and how last season panned out, I don’t always agree with him in terms of him saying they played good football.’
In attendance on Friday night for the Fulham game, Stam was seen by Confidential in multiple long conversations with club figures, including United’s communication team and Ten Hag’s assistant Rene Hake, where no doubt his comments about the boss were a talking point.
Jaap Stam had multiple conversations with club officials at Old Trafford on Friday evening
The United legend was forced to clarify his comments after saying that Erik ten Hag ‘has to go’
He told Simon Jordan: ‘For Ten Hag, it’s his third season at United – I think he needs to go’
Stam feels his comments have been misinterpreted and the ‘has to go’ sound-bite was instead a reference to going out and making progress in Ten Hag’s third season.
With Hake all smiles and plenty of back-slapping between the two on the touchline at the final whistle on Friday, it suggests that, while the comments were incredibly clumsy, it is all water under the bridge.
Onana on the move
As a mark of his long-term commitment to Manchester United, Andre Onana is ready to move out of Alexis Sanchez’s house and buy a place of his own.
Since signing from Inter Milan 13 months ago, the Cameroon goalkeeper has been renting from Sanchez, who left Old Trafford for Inter in 2019 after a disappointing spell at United and has most recently joined Udinese this summer.
But Onana has been keen to establish a more permanent base in Manchester and hopes to complete on a property in the same affluent suburb so his wife Melanie and their four children can move in over the next couple of months.
Confidential understands that the family also looked at Paul Pogba’s old house but decided it wasn’t for them.
Onana overcame a shaky start at United after rejoining his old Ajax boss Ten Hag at Old Trafford, but the 28-year-old has been a key performer since then.
Andre Onana is ready to move out of Alexis Sanchez’s house and buy a…