Erik ten Hag has made a summer addition at Manchester United by bolstering his coaching staff with goalkeeping coach Jelle ten Rouwelaar – who only just penned a deal with Ajax
Erik ten Hag has moved quick to bolster his Manchester United coaching staff – bringing in goalkeeping coach Jelle ten Rouwelaar, who has recently been working at Burnley.
The Dutchman himself now has the security of a new contract and has opted to bolster those around him. United will need to begin negotiating a compensation package with Ten Hag’s former side Ajax after bring Ten Rouwelaar on board however.
The goalkeeping coach had impressed with Vincent Kompany at Burnley and thus earned himself a switch to Amsterdam as of two months ago. The move had been in limbo due to Kompany joining Bayern Munich but United will look to iron out a deal with Ajax as soon as possible.
Ten Rouwelaar is regarded as a modern coach who encourages keepers to play out from the back one. He will now work with United’s shotstoppers Andre Onana, Altay Bayindir and Tom Heaton ahead of the new season.
The 43-year-old previously played a key role in Kompany landing the Championship title with the Clarets in 2023, coaching Arijanet Muric across the season. Kompany bought Ten Rouwelaar with him from Anderlecht in 2020.
United made the big move last summer to change their established goalkeeper David de Gea after more than a decade as the club’s No 1. Onana was bought in for big money and initially struggled as he made a series of high profile errors, many of them leading to goals.
He retained the faith of Ten Hag though, who worked with the goalkeeper during their days at Ajax. The Dutchman said after one error-strewn performance: “[In] football on the whole, [there] will always be mistakes and this is one mistake. So we also don’t make it bigger than it is. This was not just Andre and then, after that, he made, in the second half, great saves for us and he shows his capabilities and abilities. He will bounce back, and he is a very important player.”
Bayindir has been signed in recent years but the Turkish goalkeeper has only been used sporadically at Old Trafford whilst Heaton is also rarely utilised.
Richard Hartis, who is currently United’s goalkeeping coach, will leave the club this summer. He joined under Ole Gunnar Solskjaer in 2019, but his contract hasn’t been renewed. It is his second stint at the club having been part of Sir Alex Ferguson’s staff back in the 2007-08 season.
Join our new WhatsApp community and receive your daily dose of Mirror Football content. We also treat our community members to special offers, promotions, and adverts from us and our partners. If you don’t like our community, you can check out any time you like. If you’re curious, you can read our Privacy Notice.