Erik ten Hag praying Man Utd avoid seventh place finish in Premier League

Incoming Manchester United boss Erik ten Hag is praying the club are not in the Europa Conference League next season.

But the current Ajax boss will have no problems navigating the Europa League – with a route into Champions League the prize for winning UEFA's second club competition.

With entry into Europe's elite Champions League now gone for United, Ten Hag is hoping his new club can avoid finishing seventh which would mean playing in the Conference League next season. Ten Hag believes with some new faces and current players buying into his methods the picture is not all doom and gloom.

Although he recognises it'll be a big job to arrest the decline and make United more competitive. The European picture for next season is complicated with West Ham and Leicester still in the hunt to win the Europa and Conference Leagues respectively. But as it stands, with Liverpool having won the Carabao Cup and competing with Chelsea for the FA Cup next month, teams which finish sixth or seventh in the Premier will be in contention for either the Europa League or the Conference. If United finished eighth they would have no European football next season – giving ten Hag more time to shape the club's future.

Meanwhile, interim United boss Ralf Rangnick admits Old Trafford is not an appealing destination for top players without the cherry of Champions League football. Rangnick, who is poised to move into a two-year consultancy role at United when the season ends, also urged the Red Devils to stop making glamourous signings and instead focus their efforts on promising young players.

Rangnick claimed Manchester City, Liverpool and Chelsea now have the edge over United when it comes to signing Europe's leading players. Rangnick