Ten Hag primed to end false dawns at Man United

After Erik ten Hag's first season in charge delivered an upturn in fortunes for Manchester United, there is a genuine sense of optimism around England's most successful club for the first time in a decade.

Since United last won the Premier League title under Alex Ferguson in 2013, David Moyes, Louis van Gaal, Jose Mourinho and Ole Gunnar Solskjaer have all failed to revive former glories - but Ten Hag appears to be making progress.

Last year, he took charge of a United side that had collected their lowest-ever Premier League points tally (58) in the 2021-22 season and were in a five-year trophy drought.

The former Ajax manager has built a team centred around big personalities like Bruno Fernandes, Lisandro Martinez and Casemiro, which is direct in attack and works tirelessly off the ball.

The turnaround has been remarkable, with a top-four finish in the Premier League, the League Cup trophy and a place in the FA Cup final to show for last season.

There were serious blips, however, with heavy defeats at Liverpool, Brentford, Manchester City and Sevilla and weaknesses exposed by those capitulations have been addressed during the transfer window.

England's Mason Mount has been drafted in to give United more options in midfield while Andre Onana is a strong replacement at goalkeeper for the increasingly error-prone David de Gea.

United's search for a striker also appears to be at an end, with British media reporting that an agreement has been reached with Atalanta over young Dane Rasmus Hojlund.

"I think the difference is, with reference to last year, now we have the foundation with this squad," Ten Hag told reporters.

"Because we built the foundation last season. So (we built) the squad, the way of play, and now we have to find the