Erik ten Hag is on the verge of being appointed as the next permanent manager of Manchester United.

The Dutchman, who took over as manager of Ajax in December 2017, was interviewed for the Old Trafford position last month and has since been tipped to be the frontrunner for the position. While it has been widely reported that Ten Hag is close to signing his contract, Manchester United are working to complete the final stages of their agreement with Ajax.

Ten Hag, according to a report published by the Manchester Evening News last month, is United's favourite option to take over as manager at Old Trafford, despite continued speculation about Mauricio Pochettino. The supporters have embraced Ten Hag in recent months, dating back to when Ole Gunnar Solskjaer was fired from his position as United manager in November.

Ralf Rangnick's successor at Old Trafford, Ten Hag, faces an uphill battle if all goes according to plan and the Dutchman is named as his replacement. A high level of patience, on the other hand, will be necessary.

Is there a quick cure for Manchester United's current problems? Ten Hag's expected arrival suggests that the club is willing to back him with a long-term plan. And a long-term project is exactly what United need, according to former Reds captain Gary Neville.

Afterwards, Neville explained why it was important for United to have a long-term plan. United lost 4-1 to Manchester City at the Etihad Stadium last month. That's not the only reason why he thinks Manchester United will prefer Ten Hag to Pochettino.

On Sky Sports, Neville said, "Manchester United need to look longer term for a manager; they're not going to pick a short-term manager as they did with Jose [Mourinho]." "They went against the grain with it and they won't do it again." For the long run, they hope to select Ten Hag or Pochettino, a young, promising manager. They can't put all of their eggs in one basket at the same time.

Ten Hag, I believe, is the man they want to lead the club in the future, but Rangnick will not be appointed because he was only ever going to be here for five months, gathering information about the club's structure and its people, and at the end of the season he'll hand over his report and move into a consultancy role next season, with the club either taking his advice or not." It's likely that he'll have a lot of negative things to say about the guys in that locker room, and I expect that to be the case.

"They're taking a big risk by hiring Pochettino. If Paris Saint-Germain exits the Champions League, they may let him go, but if they win it, it becomes more difficult for Manchester United to acquire him since PSG doesn't need the money, and they'll just keep him."

It appears that Neville was correct, as Ten Hag inches closer to taking over as United's CEO. This past month, United made a decision to sign the Dutchman, with the hope that he can repeat his success at Ajax under the proper framework and regulations in place.