Ajax fired manager John Heitinga on Thursday after a bad run of results to start the season. With the former Liverpool assistant at the helm, Ajax won five, drew five, and lost five games, scoring 21 goals and conceding 28 in the process.
A run of four straight losses in the UEFA Champions League, with the latest a 3-0 defeat to Galatasaray on Wednesday, has left the Amsterdam giants at the bottom of the tournament's League Phase with zero points and a goal difference of -12.
According to Dutch newspaper Algemeen Dagblad, technical director Alex Kroes met with former manager Erik ten Hag at the former's house. Journalist Sjoerd Mossou reported that it was a planned coffee talk between the two, not a formal or informal job interview.
The two reportedly had a long conversation about a possible reunion, knowing that Heitinga's position at Ajax was becoming increasingly difficult to defend for Kroes, who'd spoken to Ten Hag before Heitinga's hiring in the summer. Ten Hag prioritised his international career back then, right before he joined Bayer Leverkusen.
Immense popularity
After getting sacked four games into his tenure in Germany, Ten Hag, still a very popular figure in Amsterdam, quickly became an option again for Ajax.
"Less than six months later, Ajax and Kroes must hope that Ten Hag harbours feelings of revenge – and that he considers the Amsterdam club a better option than Wolverhampton Wanderers, who are also interested and currently bottom of the Premier League," Algemeen Dagblad reports.
Following Heitinga's sacking, club insider Lucas Weening of VoetbalPrimeur reported that Ajax and Ten Hag had held a positive first talk. The 55-year-old Dutchman was reportedly open to having a second talk with the club.
The former Manchester United boss managed Ajax during their most recent golden days between 2018 and 2022, a time in which they won three Eredivisie titles, the KNVB Beker twice, and reached the semi-finals of the 2018/19 UEFA Champions League.