Manchester United are hiring a new goalkeeping coach by moving for Jelle ten Rouwelaar, who spent last season in the Premier League at Burnley.
Erik ten Hag is further shaking up his support staff and has selected Ten Rouwelaar to work with Andre Onana, Altay Bayindir, and Tom Heaton.
Ten Rouwelaar actually agreed to join Ajax two months ago following the departure of Vincent Kompany to Bayern Munich, but United are working on a compensation package with the Dutch club and a deal is expected to be agreed.
Richard Hartis, who has been United’s goalkeeping coach since 2019, joining under Ole Gunnar Solskjaer, will leave the club with his contract expiring. Hartis spent ten years at United in his first spell, overseeing academy goalkeeping and stepping into first-team duties at the end of the 2007-08 campaign, coaching Edwin van der Sar when the club won the Premier League and Champions League.
On his return Hartis, a respected professional who also spent time at the FA, worked with David de Gea and helped him win the Premier League Golden Glove in 2022-23, before Onana became No 1 last summer. Ten Hag has evaluated his staff and feels now is the right time for a fresh approach in the goalkeeping department to match his ideology closely, as part of a wider reshuffle.
Ten Rouwelaar, 43, is regarded as a modern goalkeeping coach, having implemented sessions to aid the system desired by Kompany for passing out from the back. Burnley took the Championship by storm in his first season, playing an expansive brand of football, but struggled in the Premier League, albeit James Trafford and Arijanet Muric emerged with reputations enhanced.
Kompany hired Ten Rouwelaar when he was manager at Anderlecht in 2020 and brought him to England when appointed by Burnley in 2022. During the 2018-19 season, Ten Rouwelaar also coached the Dutch under-20 side.
As a player, he spent most of his career at NAC Breda, playing more than 300 league games mainly in the Eredivisie, before retiring in 2016. Craig Mawson, who joined United in 2019 as deputy goalkeeping coach, is staying at the club.
Ten Hag is also looking to add Ruud van Nistelrooy and Rene Hake as assistant managers, with Mitchell van der Gaag and Benni McCarthy set to depart. Steve McClaren is set to stay.
Discussions over contracts continue and United are working hard to secure work permits for the new arrivals, but it is hoped Ten Hag’s revamped coaching team will be in place in time for the first day of pre-season on Monday.
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