Bayer Leverkusen on Monday appointed Dane Kasper Hjulmand as coach, replacing Erik ten Hag, who was fired after just two league games in charge.
The former Denmark coach has been appointed on a contract until 2027.
“It is an honour to be entrusted with such a team,” Hjulmand said in a statement, adding that he is “motivated to shape the future of the club”.
The appointment ends a chaotic fortnight for Leverkusen, who sacked former Manchester United manager Ten Hag on September 1, just two games into the Bundesliga season.
Ten Hag replaced Xabi Alonso, who took Leverkusen to an unbeaten league and cup double in 2023-24 — the club’s first-ever Bundesliga title — before moving to Real Madrid in the summer.
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Leverkusen sporting director Simon Rolfes admitted to an error in hiring Ten Hag but said letting him continue would have been “an even bigger mistake”.
Runners-up last season, Leverkusen collected just one point from their opening two matches.
“Unprecedented” Sacking
Ten Hag hit back in a statement, calling the sacking “unprecedented” and “a complete surprise”.
Hjulmand is expected to be on the bench for Leverkusen’s home match against Eintracht Frankfurt on Friday.
Hjulmand emerged as one of several candidates to take over the vacant position, alongside one-time Barcelona coach and player Xavi, former Spurs manager Ange Postecoglou, and Raul, the Spanish striker who recently coached Real Madrid’s second team.
Ex-Denmark Coach
The 53-year-old resigned as Denmark coach in July 2024, having taken the side to the semi-finals of the Euros in 2021, where they narrowly lost to England.
He also took Denmark to the last 16 of Euro 2024, where they were eliminated by hosts Germany.
Rolfes said Monday the new manager would “set up a clear and dominant style of play with our team” and would “strive for the most ambitious national and international goals”.
The manager took Nordsjaelland to their first and only Danish title in 2011-12.
Hjulmand has experience in Germany, having coached Bundesliga side Mainz for just under one season in 2014-15, but was sacked after a run of one win in 13 games.
After Friday’s match against Frankfurt, Leverkusen kick off their Champions League campaign with a trip to Danish champions Copenhagen.
Ten Hag’s Journey
Fired by Manchester United last October, Ten Hag joined Leverkusen as the successor to Xabi Alonso, who moved to Real Madrid.
“This decision was not easy for us. Nobody wanted to take this step,” sporting director Simon Rolfes said in a statement.
“The past few weeks have shown that the steps to build a new and successful team have not been effective,” Rolfes said.
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Club CEO Fernando Carro said the decision was “painful, but necessary”.
The sacking means the 55-year-old Dutchman now has the unwanted record of being the coach to be fired so early into a Bundesliga season, breaking the previous mark of five matches.
Named United manager in July 2022, Ten Hag won the FA and League Cups but was let go after a run of just one win in eight matches midway through the 2024-25 season, the club’s worst start to a campaign in the Premier League era.
Taking over after the most successful period in Leverkusen’s history, with an unbeaten league and cup double in 2023-24, including the first Bundesliga title in the club’s 120-year history, Ten Hag was tasked with overseeing a dramatic rebuild.
Exodus Of Players
Leverkusen lost several core members of the team this summer, including Florian Wirtz, Granit Xhaka, Jonathan Tah, Jeremie Frimpong, Amine Adli and Lukas Hradecky.
The club did not name a replacement for Ten Hag, saying the “training work would be taken over by the assistant coaching staff for the time being”.
Named Leverkusen manager on July 1, Ten Hag’s first match in charge was a 5-1 drubbing by Flamengo’s under-20s team in a friendly in Brazil.
After a 4-0 win over fourth-tier Sonnenhof Grossaspach in their German Cup opener, Leverkusen claimed one point from their first two Bundesliga fixtures.
Leverkusen let a one-goal lead slip to lose 2-1 at home to Hoffenheim, and on Saturday conceded two late goals against a 10-man Werder Bremen to draw 3-3, having led 2-0 and 3-1.
On Sunday, German outlets Bild and Kicker both reported Ten Hag was facing the sack, despite his short tenure at the club.
Ten Hag was tasked with bedding in more than a dozen new signings ahead of this season, including several young players.
The three most expensive signings in the club’s history — Malik Tilmann, Jarell Quansah, and Eliesse Ben Seghir — all arrived this summer, for a combined cost of 102 million euros ($120 million) plus bonuses.
Source: Channels TV
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