RIO FERDINAND fears that Erik ten Hag could be "chewed up" by Manchester United unless he changes the club's culture.
The Dutchman is reportedly set to pen a four-year contract at Old Trafford to take over from interim Ralf Rangnick this summer.
Former Red Devils defender Ferdinand knows that Ten Hag won't have an easy job turning his old team around, and has offered some advice to the 52-year-old.
He said on his Vibe with Five show: "I've got to take my hat off to him because this is a risk.
"Many managers have been spat out here and he has good stock in the game at the moment.
"He's valued and looked at as a very good coach and he's coming in and he's risking that.
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"We've seen many managers now with far more experience, who have won much more than Ten Hag, bigger reputations, who have come in and been chewed up by this football club and spat out.
"And the players are still the same.
"So he has to find a way of getting in there and managing the characters, the personalities and the egos that are in there.
"And I know I sound like a broken record but the thing he has to do first is change the culture, bring the new culture and drive it.
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"He has to do that, it's a massive part of if he's going to be successful."
Amid potential fears that Ten Hag won't be able to handle the step up to a bigger club in United, Ferdinand reckons that his time under Pep Guardiola within Bayern Munich's set up will stand him in good stead.
The 43-year-old continued: "He has been at the background at a big club – Bayern Munich are a huge club, one of the biggest in the world.
"He was in the building at Bayern Munich when Pep was there.
"He understands what it is like at a big club with huge demands – something what Man United will be like.
"And most importantly he has been around big players, sat in the background and watched – seen how they are handled by Pep and his staff and seen how they react to certain situations.
"So he has the experience of being around big players."
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Ajax boss Ten Hag won't be appointed until after this Sunday's KNVB Cup final against PSV.
His side are also embroiled in a tight title race, currently leading PSV by four points at the top of the Eredivisie.
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