Erik ten Hag is relishing the chance to shatter Manchester City’s Treble dream — just as soon as he has secured a Champions League spot.
Manchester United can guarantee a top-four finish if they beat Bournemouth at the Vitality Stadium on Saturday and fifth-placed Liverpool lose to Aston Villa.
United still have two more Premier League games at home to Chelsea and Fulham, but Ten Hag will hope to set his sights early on the FA Cup final next month and the opportunity to stop the City juggernaut in its tracks.
‘When we’ve had three games and it’s gone, yes, I will enjoy it,’ he said on Friday.
‘Before that, it is not important at all,’ he added. ‘We have to keep doing what we have all season: improve every day and not look too far ahead.’
Erik ten Hag is relishing the chance to end Manchester City’s Treble hopes in the FA Cup final
Pep Guardiola (right) and City have almost secured the Premier League title and are in the Champions League final, but they will also face Ten Hag’s United for the FA Cup
Ten Hag played down concerns that the protracted takeover battle for the club is hampering his summer transfer plans after Sheik Jassim Bin Hamad Al Thani made a dramatic improved bid for United earlier this week.
‘We do our job in the background and we are working hard,’ added the United boss. ‘For me, it is about finance and that there is the money available to do the right things. But, first of all, we have to be in the top four and that is our focus.’
Ten Hag is also confident that Marcus Rashford, who could miss Saturday’s game at Bournemouth through illness, will sign a new contract.
He said: ‘Marcus wants to stay and we want him to stay, so I think we will find each other.’