While Edwin van der Sar confirmed that Ajax wanted to keep Erik ten Hag, he also admitted that they were powerless to prevent the Dutch coach from joining "one of the biggest clubs in the world."

Ten Hag has been appointed as the new manager of Manchester United on a three-year contract with an option for an additional year. He will begin his duties at Old Trafford in the summer of this year.

PSV Eindhoven defeated Ajax in the Dutch Cup final on Sunday, ending the Dutch club's ambitions of completing a double. The 52-year-old has spent the previous four and a half seasons with the club, and they are on target to win a third league title this season.

When the pandemic forced the cancellation of the 2019/20 season, Ajax was joint-top of the league, and Ten Hag has returned the club to the top of Dutch football.

As a result of his efforts, they reached the quarterfinals of the Champions League in 2018/19, marking the first time in 22 years that they had reached that stage of the competition.

In their first season, they came within seconds of reaching the final, but when that club was dismantled, Ten Hag put together another strong squad that won all six of their group games this season before falling to a shock defeat to Benfica in the last 16.

Despite Van der Sar's desire for Ten Hag to cap off on his career with a third championship, he claims the club already owes him for the success he has brought to Amsterdam.

"We would have loved to have kept Erik at Ajax for a longer period of time, but four and a half years is a reasonable amount of time. A huge move up to one of the biggest clubs in the world, in a fantastic league, is on the cards for him this summer "he explained.

"Even though we owe Erik a great deal for his work with Ajax thus far, we're not done yet. I'll write a more in-depth reflection on his departure at the conclusion of the season. For the time being, the only thing that matters is the last games of the season, in which we all hope to bring home the league championship."