Manchester United are likely to miss out on Champions League football next season and are set to finish in the top six of the Premier League.
The season has been underwhelming for them, performances have not been up to the mark and changes are being made behind the scenes to restructure the football operations going forward.
Their two head scouts departed the club last month, Matt Judge – the chief negotiator – is also set to move on and Ten Hag is set to become their new manager at the end of the campaign.
Fortune believes that there is finally a feeling of a vision taking shape at Old Trafford and with several players expected to leave in the summer, Ten Hag will be getting a clean slate to work with.
He is excited about what the future holds for Manchester United under the Dutchman, but stressed the importance of the new manager restoring the culture of excellence at the football club again in order to make both the players and fans excited about being part of it all.
“I see a broad alignment in the club and a bit more of a vision”, Fortune told The Athletic.
“It feels exciting because things are clearer in the direction the club wants to go.
“Some players are leaving at the end of their contracts [Paul Pogba, Jesse Lingard, Edinson Cavani and Juan Mata look likely to depart] but I find that exciting for the new manager.
“A fresh start, a clean sheet, a new style of play but also an understanding of Manchester United’s style of forward-thinking attacking football.
“The most important thing — I am sure Ten Hag will get this — is to restore the culture, the unity, that relationship between staff, players, togetherness, that feeling with the fans and creating a positive environment.
“That is not easy because there has been so much negativity around Manchester United for the last few months — the last few years, even — but if you project positivity, then players will come to training excited and fans will pick that up from the players, the effort and the energy.”
Manchester United will finish their season with two away trips to Brighton and Crystal Palace, respectively.
