Friday, April 30, 2021 at 11:12 AM• Dominic Mostert • Last update: 11:44

Erik ten Hag extends his contract with Ajax, the club confirms on Friday. The trainer coveted by Tottenham Hotspur has reached an agreement on a commitment until mid-2023. Ten Hag has reached an oral agreement with the club and only has to sign. The paperwork is being prepared at this point. Ten Hag’s previous contract expired in the summer of 2022.

His contract extension is striking, as Ten Hag was seen in the English media as a top candidate to work as a permanent successor to José Mourinho. According to reports, the 51-year-old trainer was open to that opportunity. He nevertheless prefers to continue to work at Ajax. Tottenham, which has been led by Ryan Mason on an interim basis since Mourinho’s resignation, therefore seems to have to look further for a trainer for next season.

After he stopped playing football, Ten Hag worked for years in various technical positions at successively FC Twente, PSV, Go Ahead Eagles, Bayern Munich and FC Utrecht. He was appointed at Ajax in December 2017 as the successor to the dismissed Marcel Keizer. In the 2018/19 season, he became champion with Ajax, won the TOTO KNVB Cup and guided the team to the semi-finals of the Champions League.

For those achievements Ten Hag was rewarded with the Rinus Michels Award, the award presented to the best trainer in the Eredivisie; in 2016 he already won that prize while in the service of FC Utrecht. At the start of the 2019/20 season, Ten Hag and Ajax won the Johan Cruijff Shield. The season was ended prematurely, but Ajax did finish in first place. This season he stranded in the quarter finals of the Europa League, he won the cup at the expense of Vitesse and is about to make Ajax the official champion.