Erik ten Hag: Manchester United Sale would be Good

Last month, United's owners the Glazer family announced they were considering selling the club as they "explore strategic alternatives".

The Americans bought the club for £790m ($1.34bn) in 2005.

"There will be more investment possible which is good," said Ten Hag.

The Dutchman says when he was informed of the plan by chief executive Richard Arnold, he was reassured by what it meant.

"We spoke about the culture we want, we spoke about objectives, goals, and the culture and he confirmed it won't change," he said.

"It will be even better because more money will become available for this project."

Ten Hag says he has not spoken to the Glazer family about the situation, although BBC Sport understands nothing substantive is likely to happen until the festive period is over.

Demonstrations against the owners have become commonplace over the past few months, with complaints growing about the financial state of United.

In their first quarter results revealed last week, the Glazers took the unprecedented step of not paying themselves a dividend. However, it was also revealed the club now owes more than £300m in unpaid transfer fees on various recent deals.

Ten Hag is more single-minded about the situation - he wants the funds to compete with the Premier League's other leading clubs.

"There's a change in circumstances when you compare [the Premier League] with five or 10 years ago," he said. "The competition is much tougher.

"Newcastle are coming, even West Ham, maybe not now in the table but they have a huge investment. Spurs definitely and I don't need to talk about City and Liverpool or Chelsea. You can quickly count seven or eight clubs that can compete in this league.

"It's also about strategy, not just money. But it's clear that when you don't have the right players and quality players you will not be successful and achieve the targets you set."